Tale of Dragons
by Ivy N.O
Summary: Kyo knows that Tohru can never love him. How can she when she doesn't even know his true form? He knows this, so why should he listen to this strange girl claiming to be a ghost that he met in a cave? Even if she is claiming to be a dragon. Kyo may listen to her story about a reluctant cat she once knew but will he take her advice? From one freak to another? I dont own Fruit Basket
1. Meeting in a Cave

Kyo Sohma's t-shirt was drenched with sweat and rain. His orange hair was plastered to his face but he didn't bother pushing it back. He just kept running.

There was no reason behind his sprinting. No monsters chasing him, no maiden that needed saving, no rat that needed punching, nothing. Nothing but shame and fear.

Kyo spotted the cave carved into the mountainside and ran to it. It would be dry in there, he could wait out the weather, maybe sleep for a bit.

The cave was a mile uphill and by the time Kyo arrived he had a stitch in his side and a pounding in his head. He collapsed against the cave wall, panting heavily.

She doesn't know. She doesn't know. She doesn't know. He chanted this mantra in head, his fingers stroking the bracelet on his wrist.

It had fallen off yesterday. He had no idea how, all he knew was he woke up and it wasn't there. He pulled apart his room searching for it, and then she...

He banged his head against the wall. She reached for him, to ask was he okay, if she had managed that distance.

He didn't want to think about how she would have reacted.

Kyo sighed. "Tohru..." He whispered closing his eyes.

"Nice name. Hope the guy your thinking about is worth the drama." A female voice came to him.

Instantly Kyo jumped up, cat ears alert, canines pointed. He searched the shadows for the speaker but he couldn't see anyone.

"Who's there?" He asked, his voice threatening. "Come out now before I come in after you!"

"Ewww, so scary. I'm absolutely terrified." The laugh that followed was light.

Kyo growled, his finger nails were starting to become more like claws now. His pupils had turned to slits.

"Quit messing around. You have no idea what you're dealing with!" He snarled. He started to step towards the shadows. His eyesight was becoming sharper as his eyes reverted to cat form.

"Oh on the contrary kitty-cat." Kyo saw a figure come into view. It was a woman but she seemed strange. She was varying shades of gray, like a drawing someone had decided not to colour in. She was also sort of... transparent. The only colour coming from her was from her glowing red irises.

"_You_ have no idea what you're dealing with." She laughed again and Kyo could see her canines were pointed and long not unlike his own.


	2. Strange Beginnings

"What, what are you?" Kyo shouted, backing up slightly.

"Hmmm ghost, apparition, restless spirit, poltergeist, take your pick." The figure flashed him another smile.

"Personally I prefer Kaida."

"What do you want with me?" Kyo asked, trying to hide his nerves. A ghost, he was looking at a real life ghost. Maybe he fell asleep, or banged his head against the cave wall, Hell, maybe he fell and banged his head in the woods and was slowly dying of exposure.

"What do I want with you? I'm not the one who walked into someone else's cave, panting and saying a guy's name." Kaida smirked.

"Tohru's a girl!"

"Oh my apologies. But you still came into my cave."

"What do you mean your cave? This land is on Sohma property."

"This was my favourite place when I was alive. I used to come here and stare out across the forest for hours. And as for this being Sohma property, well, look at me, I'm sure you can make the connection."

Kyo looked at her, with her fangs she did look a little like he did when something startled him or when he was angry.

"Are you... a Sohma?" Kyo asked cautiously.

"Oh thank goodness the latest generation aren't complete morons."

"So what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be moved on or something?" Kyo felt himself relaxing a little, it didn't seem like Kaida wanted to hurt him.

"I have moved on. Quite happily so. You however happened to stumble across one of the few places on this earth where I have a very strong connection. And you were feeling very strong emotions, Kitty cat."

"So what? You came to kick me out?"

"No I came to have a chat." Kaida said with a smile. "What's wrong with the cat?"

"What makes you think I want to tell you anything?!" Kyo shouted.

"I don't. And you don't have to. You are the cat of the Zodiac. I can imagine what the problems are." Her voice was gentler now.

"I don't need your pity! I'm out of here." Kyo turned to the mouth of the cave.

"Back to Tohru? Tell me, what exactly is it about her that worries you so much?" Kaida asked curiously.

"Don't talk about Tohru!" Kyo warned looking back at Kaida.

"I meant no offence. You see I happen to have a soft spot for the cat."

"No one has a soft spot for the cat." Kyo growled.

"Don't be so sure. Sit with me, I'd like to tell you a story." Kaida sat down against the wall.

"What story?" Kyo hesitated for a moment before sinking down on the floor beside Kaida.

"The story of Kaida Sohma, the dragon of the Zodiac curse."

.

Kaida gestured her hand towards the front of the cave. A pool of water floated in towards them. It fell in a puddle at their feet. She motioned her hand over again, this time the surface of the water shimmered. Kyo saw a blurry scene forming. As it cleared he could see a woman holding a baby. It was red and looked like it was newly born. Around her bed were a young man and an older couple, presumably grandparents.

The child had red hair, the colour of blood, a more intense version of her mother's copper curls.

"She's beautiful." Kyo heard the mother whisper.

"Yes my darling she is" A young man said, presumably the father.

"Is that you?" Kyo asked.

"Yup"

"Do they know you're one of the Zodiac yet?"

"They're about to figure it out."

The woman in the vision handed the child to her husband. The moment her father took her in his arms a puff of smoke erupted from the infant. When it was cleared Kyo could see...

Kyo gasped. He was expecting a sea horse like Hatori. He was not expecting a small, red, Chinese dragon.

"What?! What is this creature?!" The father shouted looking at the thing in his arms with a mixture of fear and disgust. The mother was screaming.

"No!" The grandmother howled. "I thought we had escaped the curse."

"Give me the child, my son." The older man said.

"This is not a child! It's a monster!" Kiada's father exclaimed.

"Please son. This can all be explained, just give me the baby."

The younger man handed over his child nervously.

"The dragon. But what an unusual form. Surely she should be a sea horse." The grandmother said in confusion.

"Perhaps we are being punished for our family's abandonment."

"What are you two talking about?" Kaida's father was at her mother's side now, holding her hand.

Her grandfather sighed. He handed the little dragon to his wife.

"Do you remember when I told you that your grandfather and grandmother, my parents, left the estate that they were raised on? And that was the reason that we do not speak to the other members of the Sohma family."

"What do my grandparents have to do with that creature?!" Her father spat.

"That creature is your daughter! You would do well to remember that!" Kaida's grandmother chastised.

"The Sohma's are cursed, Tatsuya, they have been for many, many years. It is the curse of the Zodiac. There are 13 members of our family who will take the form of one of the animals of the Zodiac or the cat. Your daughter has been chosen to be the dragon."

"What you are saying is insanity!" Kaida's mother cried out, shaking in her husband's arms.

"How can you deny the truth of your own eyes? Look Saki, this child is yours." Kaida chose that time to turn back into her human form. The red headed babe began to wail. Her grandmother started to sooth her.

"You see? Whenever a man embraces her she will take on this form. Both of my parents suffered from this curse, they were the dog and the tiger. They had hoped by leaving the Sohmas behind they could spare their children from the curse. I fear now that it may have had the opposite effect."

"What are you talking about?" Tatsuya said, more calmly now that his child was in a form he recognised. He stepped nervously towards his mother.

"The form of the dragon has been a sea horse for many years. For some reason this child has been cursed with a shape that has not been seen for a long time. I believe that we may be being punished for our family's desertion."

"So is she still...a human?" Saki asked.

"Yes. She just looks a little strange sometimes." Her grandmother smiled down at her granddaughter.

"May I?" Tatsuya asked, holding out his hands.

"You know she will change once you touch her."

"I know." He said quietly.

Tatsuya took his daughter in his arms and in a puff of smoke she changed.

"Hello, little dragon. I'm your father." He smiled down at her. "Little dragon. I suppose that will have to be your name won't it? Kaida."


	3. Behind Closed Doors

_**A/N: Hey so...it's been a while...Sorry about that... I have the plan written for this story now though and I've finished Close to Home so I can pay more attention to this one! Yeah...Sorry again, I promise to be more frequent from now on!**_

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The water in the pool grew murky. Kyo glanced at Kaida confusedly but her eyes were fixed on the liquid. For a moment her irises flashed red and then the a new image formed in front of him.

A child like Kaida ran across the grass, her arms spread wide as she laughed. Her red hair streamed out behind her, her golden brown eyes sparkling with exhilaration. She looked about seven or so. Behind her he could see her father, chasing her.

"I'm going to catch you, little dragon!" He teased, his hand grasping at her.

She squealed in delight and dodged him.

"No daddy! I'm too fast for you!" She hid behind one of the many trees that covered the area. Her father moved slowly around the trunk and dived at her. She shrieked and leaned against the bark causing him to fall to the ground.

"Haha, Told you, you can't catch me daddy!"

"No, he can't. I can though." Her mother said, her arms scooping her child into the air.

"No fair! Two against one!" Kaida struggled in her mother's grasp.

"I don't know if you father counts. He has fallen."

"Yeah because I'm quicker than daddy!" Kaida giggled, her arms wrapped around her mother's neck.

"Now whose getting ganged up on?" Her father grumbled and stood, dusting off his arms.

"Well you shouldn't surround yourself with such strong willed women." Her mother teased, poking her father's nose with her free hand.

"You're right I shouldn't have." He said smirking and leaning in to kiss his wife gently.

"Ew! Stop!" Kaida complained, squirming to get out of the middle of their embrace.

"Ah!" She yelped as she succeeded in freeing herself only to find herself falling.

"Careful Kaida!" Her mother ordered. But it was too late. Her father, on impulse, caught his child as she fell. With a puff of smoke his daughter had changed. In his arms was a dragon, about the size of the average dog, with flame coloured scales and pure gold eyes. Kyo was surprised by her size in this form. It seemed she got larger when she turned.

"Opps" Kaida said embarrassed.

"You silly girl!" Her mother chastised. She always started fretting whenever Kaida turned.

I'm sorry Momma." She mumbled.

"Shh, it's alright. Let's just get you home."

Suddenly they heard a noise come from one of the bushes. They froze and stared at it in horror.

"It...it was probably an animal." Her father whispered, fear shaking his voice.

"Give me Kaida. It's time we left this place." Her mother ordered, her father complied and she sprinted out of the forest.

Her father faltered, walking towards the bushes. He scanned them but after a moment ran after his wife.

"So you had to move?" Kyo asked.

"Shh, look closely" Kaida dismissed.

Kyo scanned the waters and saw a shape emerge from the bushes. It was long and narrow. At first he couldn't see it as it's body camouflaged with the ground so effectively but then it raised its head and flicked its tongue. It stared after Kaida and her parents.

"As my mother carried me out I spotted that over her shoulder. It wasn't until years later that I understood the significance of it."

"Is that...One of the zodiac?"

Kaida nodded curtly. "My dear cousin, Tsukina Sohma. She's a real charmer."

"We have to leave." Kyo turned his attention to the masculine voice of Kaida's father emanating from the pool.

The image now held Kaida standing behind a door, peering across the edge onto the scene within. Her parents were inside the room, facing each other with drawn expressions on their faces. Her mother's copper hair was dishevelled, her father's back tense. They were clearly arguing.

"Again? When will it ever end, Tatsuya?! I'm sick of moving every time something goes bump in the night!" Her mother, Saki ,shouted back.

"Well what would you have us do? Stay and have our daughter hunted by those we came to know as friends?"

"I wish..." Saki began.

"What? What is it you wish Saki?" Tatsuya stepped closer to his wife and whispered menacingly in her face.

"I...I just want some normalcy!" Saki stuttered.

"Normalcy. So what you mean is, you wish Kaida wasn't what she is. You wish she was _different_. _Normal_." Tatsuya spat.

Saki shook and stared her husband defiantly in the eye. "Yes, so what if I do? Are you going to claim any differently? Don't you wish you could hold your daughter in public without fear of her being butchered out of terror?"

"So what you are saying is you wish she never existed? That we got someone else instead. How dare you reject our own daughter?!"

_Smack. _

The younger Kaida jumped at the sound, her mouth was an O of horror as she saw the angry red mark starting to appear on her father's cheek. Her mother was breathing heavily, her eyes flashing violently after striking her husband.

"Don't you ever insinuate I do not love my child. Don't you dare say I wish we didn't have her. You know nothing of what I'm feeling. And how could you? You're too wrapped with Sohma guilt." Saki pushed her husband aside and stormed out of the room. Kaida quickly darted out of sight. She hid in a corner, waiting for her mother to leave.

Suddenly she felt strong arms engulf her from behind. She recognised her mother's warmth.

"I should have known you to be eavesdropping." Saki murmured in her beloved daughter's ear.

"I'm sorry." Kaida muttered.

"Shh...Don't be love, Just know, whatever you heard...Daddy and I are angry at one another. We don't mean what we say."

"Are we leaving again Momma?" Kaida asked turning to stare into her mother's blue eyes. She loved her mother's eyes, she had inherited her father's.

A weak smile graced Saki's lips. "Yes dear, we will be soon."

Kaida bit her lip and looked shyly to the ground.

"I'm sorry...it's my fault..."

Saki frowned, she lifted her hand to tuck her daughter's curl behind her ear.

"No dear, it isn't. This...problem you have. It's no one's fault. It's just...something we have to learn to live with. Now come on, let's go find your grandparents and tell them we're going to find a new home."

Kaida took her mother's hand uncertainly. Somehow, the words did little to raise her spirits.


	4. Oldest Friend

_**A/N: Hey so I'm going to do some review replies, **_

_**Pinksugarrush: Haha thanks! I was trying to put in a bit of older style language but also we call people charmers quite a bit here in Ireland :) The other zodiacs won't be appearing just yet but trust me she be seeing them all real soon. **_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: Thanks! I appreciate the review and knowing that you are excited by this story gets me excited to write it!**_

_**Black Wolf Lady: Sorry about the wait :P but I hope you survived the curiosity up till now. I love your name by the way.**_

_**So without further ado I present you with chapter four, please follow or favourite if you like it and please, please, please review!**_

_**Seriously, your reviews make me feel guilty for not updating so they really motivate me to write :) **_

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The image of the uncertain young girl began to swirl in front of Kyo's eyes. He looked at Kaida with confusion and she just shrugged.

"Not a whole lot left to see there. After my mother told my grandparents what happened they agreed to move with us. I think my grandfather was afraid that the Sohmas would get wind of us and come looking for me. He didn't know they had always been keeping an eye on us."

Kaida's eyes flashed red again and the pool presented a new picture. Kyo recognised that some time must have passed as the new scene portrayed Kaida as somewhere around nine.

She was lying on the grass, her eyes closed against the sun that was warming her pale skin. Her fire like hair spilled out behind her on the ground. It had gotten pretty long now.

"You were kind of gangly." Kyo noted and the ghost Kaida chuckled.

"Shut it cat. Just watch my greatest hits."She instructed.

"Kaida-chan!" A voice from the water called, taking back Kyo's attention. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as a young boy the same age as Kaida came running towards her. He had brown shaggy hair and black eyes. He grinned widely at Kaida and she opened one eye at him.

"Oh, hi Ryuu-kun." She said, sitting up and stretching.

"What is it?" She asked.

Ryuu smiled at her goofily. "All the guys are going to go down to the river and swim. You wanna come?"

Kaida blinked in surprise. She gave him a small smirk. "The others don't want me to there. They think I'm a freak."

Ryuu ran a hand through his hair. He knew that was probably true. Kaida and her family had arrived here about a year ago or so and they rarely ever interacted with other people. There was a lot of rumours going around about them. Like they were on the run from the law or something.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they're nice to you." He offered.

Kaida frowned and bit her lip. "I don't know Ryuu-kun." She said slowly.

Ryuu sighed and put his finger to his lips in contemplation. After a moment a grin broke out on his face.

"Then we won't invite them. Come on, we can go to the other side of the river." He held out his hand to help her up but she flinched away from it. He took it back slowly, remembering how Kaida didn't like to be touched.

She smiled apologetically and jumped up. "Okay, let's go!" She started running and he followed, struggling to keep up with her pace.

"Hey wait up! You don't even know where we are going!" He called after her.

.

.

Kaida dived into the water happily. Her hair plastered itself to her face and Ryuu started laughing at her. She scowled and splashed at him. He chuckled, swiftly retaliating.

Kaida smirked at him and spun quickly causing a small wave to bear down on him. He spluttered against the water and prepared to strike back when he realised Kaida had left the water. He saw her sitting on the bank, her clothes soaked through.

"Why are you my friend Ryuu-kun?" She asked suddenly.

He furrowed his brow at the unexpected question.

"What do you mean? I like you, that's why I'm your friend." He said dismissively.

But Kaida did not seem satisfied to allow the topic to drop. "But no one else likes me. They're all afraid of me. And my family."

Ryuu bit his lip and got out of the river to sit beside her. He didn't want to lie to her by denying it.

"Well... I think maybe...it's just cause you are all so secretive." He shifted uncomfortably.

"I mean, what is it you guys are hiding?" He asked jokingly.

It did not have the desired effect as Kaida's eyes darkened and she stared into the murky water with a fierce concentration.

"Hiding. We're not hiding anything." She said robotically after a moment. She straightened and stood suddenly.

"I should go home. My parents worry if I don't get back on time." She turned away and made to leave hastily.

"Hey, wait! Kaida!" Ryuu called to her, jumping rapidly to his feet. His hand outstretched and clasped hers. She screeched and pulled away, which only caused Ryuu to stumble forward and fall on top of her in a strange puff of smoke. He felt something knock him backwards and he landed with a thump on his back.

Ryuu coughed and groaned as he rubbed the hand he had put out to break his fall.

"Sorry Kaida, I didn't mean to knock you over...Kaida?" He trailed off as he realised that the girl was nowhere to be seen. There was a pile of clothes which he recognised as hers although they looked as though they had been ripped a little in the moments that had just passed.

"Kaida? Kaida!" He called, searching for her. Suddenly his eyes caught sight of something in the bushes. Two large gold orbs.

His heart leaped into his throat. Those lights look so similar to Kaida's eyes. He bit his lip and went down on his hands and knees and slowly crawled towards them.

"Is that you?" he whispered only for them to widen and quickly hide in the protection of the undergrowth.

"Come on, Kaida, please don't leave." He said, a pleading note in his voice.

"Go away Ryuu." She ordered, although she was still out of sight.

"No, Kaida, please come out, what's going on? Why did you run away?" He pressed.

"I, I, I can't tell you! Please Ryuu...just go." Her voice ended in a whisper and Ryuu frowned. She was afraid, of him no less, and he would be damned if he didn't find out why.

"Kaida I'm not leaving. Come out, I promise whatever it is I won't be mad." He reasoned.

There was a long pause as Kaida's common sense fought against her desire for someone other than her family to know what she was.

Ryuu waited for what seemed like a lifetime when a meek voice came to his ears.

"I'll frighten you."

Ryuu smirked and shook his head. "I promise I'll try not to be scared."

The golden orbs reappeared and they looked into his eyes.

"You swear you won't scream?" She demanded.

"I swear."

"Okay." She heaved.

Slowly, with wide eyes, Ryuu watched something impossible come from that bush. He saw the red scaled face that the eyes belonged too, the sleek leathery black wings that stemmed from a muscular back and body, the five long talons on each of the feet.

He stared into the eyes of a dragon and it looked back beseechingly.

"You promised you wouldn't scream" She reminded him, her voice somehow coming from the dragon's mouth.

And Ryuu didn't, if only because he was in shock of the sight in front of him.

In the cave Kyo raised an eyebrow in surprise, this boy didn't seem to be taking this as badly as he had anticipated.

He watched as Ryuu turned on his heel and sprinted away in horror, ignoring Kaida's calls for him to wait and let her explain.

On second thoughts, maybe he was.

The young Kaida flapped her wings and took to the air so as to find her fleeing friend. However she quickly fell back to the ground as she spotted people nearby who may spot her.

A puff of smoke revealed a now human Kaida who reached out for a towel and wrapped it around herself. Immediately she ran after Ryuu.

"Please Ryuu-kun! Don't leave!" She said when she saw him.

He turned to look at her with fear in his eyes. "Get away from me! You're a monster!" He screamed although his eyes instantly looked regretful.

Kaida froze, her lip quivering, her head turned to her feet. "You're right..."

Ryuu watched with a different sense of horror as tears fell to the ground. She was crying, he had made her cry. Shame violently coursed through him.

"Kaida...I, I'm sorry. It's just...what are you?"

"A freak." She whispered in response.

Ryuu chewed his lip. He was confused and frightened but she looked so...sad.

Tentatively he reached out and slowly stepped towards her. His hand was out in front of him, he gingerly placed it on his friend's shaking shoulder.

"Kaida-chan, what's going on?" He asked, his eyes pleading for an answer.

She shook her head.

He took a firm breath and before he could change his mind pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. That same strange smoke filled the air and he found himself holding a dragon wrapped in a towel.

"Please don't cry, Kaida." He begged.

Her big beautiful golden eyes stared up at him, still shining with her tears. He stroked her rough head gently and awkwardly. She buried her snout in his chest and they remained like that until she became a human again.

Kyo listened as the young Kaida told her new confidant about the curse, what she was, how it was triggered. When she finished her friend seemed less confused but far more surprised.

"So... there are others like you?" He asked, his head tilted to the side.

"Yes, although I hope never to meet any of them. Grandfather says that if they ever found me they'd never let me go. I don't want to have to leave my family. That's why you can't tell anyone about me!" She finished desperately.

"Okay, I won't" Ryuu agreed easily.

Kaida shook her head and put her face very close to his.

"No. You need to understand. You can never tell anyone. I need you to promise." She stuck her finger out and he smirked as he hooked his with hers.

"I promise Kaida-chan."

Kyo turned to the spectre Kaida in the cave.

"Why does this matter?"

"Because it was the first time someone saw what I was who wasn't in my family. And they accepted me. You can let people in if you want Kyo, not everyone, most people are frightened idiots. But sometimes there is someone special who will take your secret to the grave. Ryuu was that for me. My oldest friend." She said the last part with a fond smile.

Kyo leaped up angrily. "Well I don't have anyone like that! And I think it was pretty stupid for you to trust someone so easily! Even if you were a kid!" He turned to the exit.

"What are you doing?" Kaida sked.

"Leaving! There's no reason for me to be here, this isn't helping me at all. That guy is obviously not part of the zodiac so how does this relate to me?" He barked and walked to the mouth of the cave.

Suddenly Kaida was in front of him. Her irises were red again, as was her hair, like someone had decided to colour in very specific parts of a black and white photo.

"Sit kitty. I'm not done."

"Make me." He said, attempting to walk through her only to find she was relatively solid.

She smirked and grabbed his shirt.

"I am the soul of the Dragon of the Zodiac. The last Sohma to ever bear the full brunt of this curse. I may be dead love but that doesn't mean I can't touch you. Now, are you going to sit down and let me finish what I started or are you going to make this difficult?"

"Why should I stay?" Kyo growled, his cat ears perked and canines barred.

"Besides hearing my fabulous life story? You'll get to see me hit the rat of my time."

Kyo stopped snarling and raised his eyebrows.

"Well why didn't you say so? Let's get on with the story." He sat down in his spot by the pool causing Kaida to chuckle as she followed.


	5. Weird but Cute

_**A/N: Hello again! Thanks so much to everybody who has been reviewing, please continue to do so, I absolutely adore feedback. And to those who haven't reviewed please do so if you have time. Thank you. **_

_**Replies to the Last reviews:**_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: Thanks! Yeah I know, I figured that would be enough to get him to sit through a few more stories. :P **_

_**Black Wolf Lady: Glad to see my tardiness didn't kill you. Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. :)**_

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"So, if you are done being a...what is the modern phrase? Drama Queen? We can get back to the tale." Kaida said with a smirk, crossing her legs and sitting down beside him.

Kyo growled a little but let the jibe slide. His curiosity was starting to get the better of him and he was beginning to wonder how Kaida got roped into the world of the other Sohmas when her family was clearly taking such steps to keep her out of it.

"Just tell me your damn story." He muttered.

Kaida chuckled and gestured her hand over the puddle. Like before it began to swirl, forming an image of Kaida, older once again, sitting on the edge of a wooden table, her legs swaying carelessly. Her grandmother sat in a chair beside her, her hands peeling an apple. With expert fingers she sliced out a piece and held it out to her granddaughter by the tip of the knife.

"Thank you gran." Kaida said with a mischievous smile. Rather than take it with her fingers she leaned in and pulled it from the blade with her teeth.

Her grandmother frowned at her. "Kaida be careful! You'll get me in trouble with your mother, behaving like that."

"Behaving like what?" Her mother asked severely from the door frame. Kaida's grin dropped a little and she shifted uncomfortably.

"Nothing, dear. Nothing at all." Her grandmother sang, giving Kaida a wink.

"Kaida get down from there. You'll break the table." Her mother ordered sternly. Kaida nodded and jumped down, clearly showing discomfort in her mother's presence.

"My mother had taken to chastising me at every opportunity for the past few weeks. As a result things had become a little strained. Granted she had a good reason for her mood swings." The ghost Kaida whispered from beside Kyo.

"What was her reason?" Kyo asked.

Kaida chuckled. "Spoilers."

Kyo rolled his eyes and looked back at the image in front of them. It had changed scene again. Now it showed Kaida sitting on her grandmother's lap, the rest of her family positioned around the kitchen table. Her mother and father sat at the top, clutching one another's hands.

"We have an announcement to make. One we've been meaning to tell you for quite some time." Her father spoke stiffly.

"Well, don't leave us in suspense. Spit it out." Grandfather ordered with a laugh.

Her parents exchanged a final look before her mother took a deep breath.

"I'm pregnant. We're going to have another child."

Kaida's breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened. A baby? A little brother or sister?

"Congratulations!" Her grandfather said happily. She felt her grandmother nod behind her.

"That's wonderful news dear."

But Kyo could see the hesitation in Kaida's mother's eyes. He could guess where it stemmed from. Another child. What if they were like Kaida? Another cursed Sohma.

He had a feeling that the young Kaida knew what was concerning her mother as well. He watched as she got up from her grandmother's lap and hugged her mother tightly around the waist.

"Congratulations Momma." She whispered, her eyes wet with tears that she somehow knew she couldn't shed.

Her mother's hand awkwardly came to pat her daughter's head.

"Thank you darling."

.

.

"So I'm guessing that your mother was not happy about having a baby."

Kaida smile was bitter sweet. "She was scared. Understandably, of course. She had one freak to deal with, she didn't want to risk having another."

"And did she? Did your sibling have the curse?" Kyo pressed.

Kaida shook her head minutely. The pool swirled and he saw an image not unlike the first one Kaida ever showed him. Except now it was not Kaida's birth but a young boy's. He had his father's black hair and the same gold-brown eyes of his sister. He was red and raw but still undeniably human.

And he was resting in his mother's arms.

"He's...he's perfect." Saki chocked out. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at her newborn son.

"He is not cursed." Tatsuya stated with a disbelieving smile. He brushed his wives cheek and bent down to kiss her.

"Well done my darling, well done."

Kaida watched from behind the door frame, her finger nails clawed, her eyes gold, as the despair caused her to lost control and begin to change.

They loved him. So much. Her little brother.

Because he is _normal_.

She turned on her heel and sprinted from that room, from her parents unspoken rejection. Her skin began to turn hard and red. She was turning into a dragon.

"Kaida!" Her grandfather's voice called to her and he caught her around the middle. She changed in a puff of smoke.

"Running away, are we?" He asked.

Kaida looked down, shame faced. "They don't need me. They have _him_." She scowled.

Her grandfather blanched, his face softening. "Kaida...That's not true." He stroked her rough cheek and tears began to spill down her rock hard face.

"It is! He's normal and I'm just a, a..." She shook her head and she hissed the last word.

"A _freak_."

"Darling, _everyone_ is a freak. Normal doesn't exist. We all just have different levels of unusual." He said with a smile.

Kaida glanced up at him, doubt evident in her eyes.

"Now, how about you go to your room, clean yourself up and come say hello to your baby brother."

Kaida sighed but let out a curt nod. "Okay, granddad."

"That's my sweet dragon." He said with a smile.

.

.

"Momma?" Kaida called around the corner. She glanced in to see her mother dosing slightly with her baby in her arms.

Kaida walked nervously up to the pair. She glanced at the child. The brat that had come in and thrown her ten year old life into complete disarray. And she was supposed to love this person? This, this,

Kaida stopped by her mother side and saw with surprise that the baby was awake. And looking right at her.

Her brother's hand lifted, just slightly towards her. Trance like she stuck her finger out to him. His tiny fingers grasped it with surprising strength.

"Huh, you're kind of weird for a baby." Kaida noted. She grinned widely.

"But cute." She added.

"Weird but cute. Just like his sister." Kaida glanced up to see her mother smiling down at her.

"Come here, love. I want to sit with my two angels." Her mother shifted over slightly in the bed and Kaida hesitated for a moment before climbing up beside her. Saki wrapped one arm around Kaida, the other holding her baby to her chest.

"What's his name?" Kaida asked after a moment or two.

A smile tugged at the corner of her mother's mouth. "Raiden. His name is Raiden."

Kaida smiled and brushed her brother's now slumbering form with her finger tips.

"Hello Raiden."


	6. Hypnotic Secrets

_**A/N: Here we go, chapter five. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed! I really, really, really, appreciate it!**_

_**Holly wolf lover: I know, I was really looking forward to the dragon and then, poof, sea horse. That's the main reason I was inspired to write this! Thank you for reviewing twice within such a short space of time by the way, I really appreciate it! I'm glad you're enjoying this story.**_

_**ShadedStarlight0: Thanks, it's great to know people are enjoying this story. Hmm, something will happen with him but I'll say no more ;)**_

_**Irgoomer: Hello, my dear old reviewer! I recognise you from close to home! Glad to see you like me enough to keep up with my stuff :)**_

_**Black Wolf Lady: Thanks! I tried to make this one especially long as a thank you for all of your lovely reviews **_

_**James Birdsong: I love your name. And I love you for reviewing, so thank you for both.**_

_**So that's all for reviews, so without further ado let us begin! **_

_**Please review!**_

_**.**_

Kyo turned to speak to Kaida but froze when he saw the tender look on her face. Clearly she had just shown him an important event in her life.

"That was, you might say, the final moment of pure motherly affection that was given to me. After that my mother became obsessed with Raiden, as though she were afraid he would break. Or perhaps, disappear in a puff of smoke." Kaida chuckled at her own joke.

"So, did she send you away?"

Kaida pursed her lips to the side in consideration. "Not entirely. There was, shall we say, a certain series of events that led to my needing to leave. But more on that later. I have one more story to tell you before the family reunion. This is the one where I discovered that I was not the only one gifted by the Sohma blood."

Kyo raised an eyebrow in curiosity but she merely winked at him and caused that all knowing pool to swirl.

.

Kaida was older now. Her body had the markings of puberty, a young girl's curves giving shape to child becoming a woman. Her face, however, still held round cheeks and large eyes. Kyo imagined she was somewhere between twelve and thirteen.

"Ra-I-den? Oh, Ra-Iden? Where _are_ you?" She sang, her red curls had been tied back in a ponytail giving Kyo a clear view of her mischievous brown eyes. They searched the room that she was in with delight. In the corner a curtain stirred and Kyo saw a young toddler peek around the edge.

Kaida smirked and cocked her hip to the side, a finger placed on her lips in mock contemplation.

"Now where could that little boy have gotten to? Hmmm... Huh, I guess I'll never find him. Oh well." She sighed and walked dejectedly out of the room. Once outside she ducked behind the door, waiting for her prey to come.

After a moment Raiden stepped tentatively out from behind his hiding place. He glanced around and began to creep out.

Quick as lightning Kaida jumped in front of him with a large blanket in hand. She threw it over his head and clutched the ends, effectively trapping him.

"Now what do we have here? Looks like I caught myself some dinner."

"Ah! Kaida! Let me go!" Raiden squirmed within his prison.

"Hmm? Let you go? But then I won't have anything to eat. What should I cook you with?" She teased.

There was a pause as Raiden fell silent.

"Apples." Raiden concluded.

Kaida frowned. "Apples? Really?"

"Yup. Things taste nice with apples." The voice that came from the sack was relaxed.

Kaida stared at her prisoner ruefully before tilting her head back and roaring with laughter.

"There really is something very strange about you Raiden." She stated with a chuckle. She put down the blanket and her brother popped up from it with a smile.

"Granddad says everybody in this house is strange." He said.

Kaida leaned in and ruffled his hair. She wanted to hug him, but she knew that would make her change. Not that Raiden would mind. He was constantly trying to make her give him rides around the house on her back.

And they were inside, so perhaps there would be no harm? She thought.

She placed a hand on her brother's shoulder and was just about to pull him towards her when a ruff grip yanked her back.

"_What_ do you think you are doing?!" Her mother barked.

"I wasn't doing anything." Kaida mumbled, getting to her feet and brushing herself off. She met her mother's glare with her own steely one.

"You know you are not supposed to touch Raiden! You know you are not to change in this house!"

"Why? It's not as though I'm going to spit fire and burn it down." Kaida snapped.

"Can you breed fire?" Raiden asked with wide eyes.

"No"

"Yes" Kaida said with a shrug, the same time her mother said no.

Kaida watched Saki's eyebrow shoot up her forehead.

"What...?" She hissed.

Kaida stuck out her chin defiantly.

"Grandfather and I discovered it a few months ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She exclaimed.

Kaida looked up at her mother, obviously annoyed. She was still shorter than her average heighted mother by an inch. However, Kyo had a suspicion that that fact would change soon enough.

"You started crying when you found out I could fly. That my wings weren't just decorative. I thought it best that you did not know another thing that makes me...odd."

Her mother pursed her lips, her face strained.

"I have a right to know."

"Why should you when you clearly don't want to?!" Kaida snarled, her eyes flashing gold, her fingernails clawing.

Saki glanced at her daughters hands, disgust flickering across her face.

"Control yourself. I will not have you changing when I am speaking to you."

"I can't! That's the problem." Kaida practically shrieked. Her canines where pointed now, she knew she did not have long before she turned completely. She need to get away from her mother in order to calm herself down.

"I have to go. We can talk about this later." Kaida said gruffly, shoving past her mother and sprinting from the room.

"Kaida! Get back here now!" Her mother shouted after her to no avail. Her daughter had already slammed the front door behind her.

Kyo smirked. "So, what? This your rebellious phase or something?"

Kaida chuckled. "Something like that, yeah."

Kyo watched as the past Kaida barrelled through the forest that surrounded her house. Branches snapped under her feet, her fire like hair became tangled up with twigs and leaves. Kaida didn't seem to care, however, she just kept running.

Finally she made it to a clearing. There she doubled over, her hands on her knees and she gasped in air. Her face was red with exertion but it seemed as though she had managed to regain her composure to an extent. Her canines had shrunk back down and her eyes were back to their normal brown. Even her clawed fingernails became pink and innocent in appearance once more.

When she straightened Kyo saw the hurt in her eyes. She turned her face to the sky and shrieked. In a moment that he found all too easy to relate to, she punched a nearby tree, causing a sickening snap to echo in the air.

"AH!" Kaida howled, cradling her now bruised hand. She swore under her breath and curled up beneath the tree she had assaulted, her hand held to her chest.

"I suppose there isn't much of a reason for you to be able to throw a punch. What with you being able to turn into a dragon at will and all." A familiar voice said reasonably, if a little breathlessly, from her right. She turned sharply to see the smiling and concerned face of her best friend.

"Ryu-chan." She said happily. He waltzed up to her and sat down cross legged beside her.

"Why did you assault a tree?" He asked, getting to the point.

She chuckled. "It insulted my honour."

"Your honour? Really? Well, this will not do." Ryu turned to the tree.

"Excuse me sir? I have been informed that you have caused my dear friend here some emotional distress. May I ask you to explain yourself? Hmm. Or really? Uh huh. No, no, I completely understand and take your point. Yes, yes, of course I agree. Sorry for troubling you."

He turned back to her with a poker straight face.

"The tree said that it couldn't have insulted you. Cause it can't speak. Cause it's a tree." Ryu said casually.

Kaida rolled her eyes but let out a chuckle of amusement.

"Alright, well maybe it didn't verbally express a degrading opinion of me but I could tell it was thinking it. I could see it in its branches." Kaida whispered the last part like a secret.

Ryu pursed his lips and cocked his head to the side as though he was listening to something.

"Hmm? Yes I think you may be right. Hold on, I'll ask her."

He poked Kaida's cheek playfully.

"The tree said you're lying. It thinks you are trying to distract me from the real issue of why you are so upset. And I'm afraid, that in this instance, I agree with the wood."

Kaida folded her arms across her chest, careful of her injured hand.

"You always take the fauna's side in these things." She accused.

Ryu smiled before his face became stoic.

"What's up dragon?" He asked in his annoyingly kind voice.

Kaida turned away from him for a moment before letting out a sigh of reluctance.

"I had another fight with my mother." She stated awkwardly.

Ryu nodded. He had been informed with her previous alterations with her mother and knew exactly what could be said in these fights.

"How bad was it?"

"Pretty bad. She knows I can breathe fire now."

Ryu let out a low whistle. "That's pretty bad."

"Yeah, I know. One more thing to add to my list of things that make me a freak." She muttered.

Ryu smiled gently. "You're not a freak Kaida-chan. You're easily the coolest person I've ever met." He grabbed her hand and was glad when she didn't recoil from his touch. This small amount of contact wasn't enough to trigger the curse and so Kaida, slowly but surely, began to allow herself to open up to it.

"Really?" She asked, with a small smirk playing on her lips.

"Definitely." He beamed, and without thinking engulfed her in a hug.

Which thoroughly killed the friendly atmosphere.

"Oh my god Kaida! I'm so sorry!" Ryu cried out as he saw the red dragon lying on the ground. Kyo was shocked by the sheer mass of her, she was about the size of a horse now.

"Damn it Ryu! Look what you've gone and done!" Kaida scolded. It was more irritating than upsetting, for one thing her clothes were completely shredded. She got to her feet and looked down on Ryu whose lips were in a tight line although his eyes were wide with wonder.

"What?" Kaida demanded.

"It's just, you've gotten so much bigger. How big to you think you're going to become?"

"Are you calling me fat?" Kaida asked in good humour.

Ryu rolled his eyes. "Yeah, cause I'm foolish enough to cause the magical fire breeding creature fat. Seriously though, how big do you Sohma dragons get?"

Kaida shrugged. "I don't know, whenever I ask Granddad about the other dragons, or really any of the other zodiac animals, he goes all quite. All he'll tell me is that I'm different from the other ones somehow."

"Maybe they are bigger?" Ryu suggested.

"Maybe, or maybe they're different colours or something, anyway that's not import-" Kaida froze as the wind changed.

She could smell something. Or someone.

"Ryu, someone's here. In the bushes." She whispered, her huge eyes searching the foliage.

There.

She snarled and leaped over Ryu's head, catching the spy under her huge foot. The person screamed in terror and Kaida realised it was a girl.

She looked down. She recognised this girl from the village. She continued screeching and Kaida growled at her.

"Shut up!"

"Kotoko?" Ryu asked, coming to stand by Kaida's shoulder.

"Ryu-kun? Help me! Please, Kaida is a monster!" She howled, trying to shove Kaida's foot off her.

Kaida narrowed her eyes at her.

"Watch your mouth little girl" She hissed.

Ryu put a hand on her scaled arm. "Kaida, calm donw. She's scared is all, just let her up."

Kaida turned sharply to him. "Let her up? Are you mad? She'll tell everyone what I am!"

"Who's going to believe her?" Ryu pressed.

"You'd be surprised." A new voice answered calmly from behind them. They looked back and saw Kaida's grandfather standing in the clearing, staring at them with a grim expression fixed upon his face.

"Granddad." Kaida muttered.

"Sohma-sama." Ryu bowed, his cheeks going red.

"Hello Ryu-kun, I wasn't aware that you knew about my family's situation."

"Yes sir, for some years now."

Grandfather's eyes widened. "Years? My, my, then I suppose I can presume you to be trustworthy for the moment. Kaida we will discuss Ryu later. For now, release that poor child."

Kaida glanced between Kotoko and her grandfather.

"But-"

"Now. Kaida." He ordered sternly. With a sigh she complied and Kotoko quickly started crawling away from them.

With speed not associated with a man of his age, her grandfather went to Kotoko's side and took her hand in his.

"Are you alright my dear? You've had quite a fall." He said with concern, his eyes holding the girl's gaze.

"I...I'm fine, what, what is she?" She whispered, glancing at Kaida with horror.

Her grandfather frowned in confusion. "I'm afraid you may have hit your head. You seem to be seeing things." He muttered.

"See, seeing things?" She asked shakily.

"Yes dear. You tripped in the woods and banged your head. It's a wonder you're not bleeding. It's okay though, Ryu and Kaida were here to help you and they came and got me."

"They, they did?" Kaida thought it seemed as though the girl's eyes had glazed over.

"Yes chan. Now, I'm going to bring you home. You make sure to tell your parents you hurt your head, you may have a headache tomorrow but I'm sure you'll be fine."

"I'll be fine. Okay, I'll go home and tell them." Her voice was thick and dream like. Before she left she glanced back at Ryu and Kaida, who was still in her dragon form, and smiled.

"Thank you for helping me. That was very kind of both of you."

The two just nodded dumbly and watched Kotoko and her grandfather's retreating backs.

"Did your grandfather just hypnotise someone?" Ryu asked in an awe inspired whisper.

Kaida changed back to her human form in a puff of smoke, causing Ryu to throw his coat at her in embarrassment.

"I, I don't know. I think...he may have."

"So your grandfather could do brainwashing like Hatori? Wait, does that mean you're related to that doctor?" Kyo asked in shock.

The ghost Kaida looked at Kyo with confusion.

"Who the hell is Hatori?" She said.

"He's our dragon, except he turns into a seahorse. That's what dragons do now."

Kaida rolled her eyes. "I know what the dragon is supposed to turn into _now_. I just didn't back then. My grandfather didn't want me to think I was an even bigger freak than I already was. But seriously, your dragon can do my grandfathers trick? That's interesting." She finished the last part mostly to herself.

After a moment she glanced up at him.

"Anyway, moving swiftly on. Let's get to the fun part, shall we?"

Kyo frowned. "The fun part?"

"The events that lead to my being here. Congratulations, you've earned a front row seat to the worst and best day of my life. The day I was sent to the Sohmas."


	7. Falling from Grace

_**A/N: Hey guys, just want to say thanks for the great feedback this story has been getting! I love reading your reviews and really appreciate every single one, the same to those who favourite and follow. So please continue to do so, or if you haven't yet please do!**_

_**Irgoomer: Haha glad you like her! Hmm, well I suppose we could put a call in with the local witches, maybe have them turn someone into a dragon... It might work? :)**_

_**ShadedStarlight0: I typed as fast as my little fingers could! I stayed up just to finish this so I hope you like it**_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: Thanks, I wanted to link it back to the current Fruit Baskets. I really appreciate the comment and am glad you are happy with the things like chapter length as I do get concerned over that when I'm posting.**_

_**Black Wolf Lady: Aw thank you, you are far too nice to me :P **_

_**James Birdsong: Why thank you, glad you liked it.**_

_**So without further ado, here is chapter 7**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

Kaida poked the pool with an elegant finger. It rippled and changed and when it finally settled Kyo felt shock course through him. The past Kaida was well into her teenage years, she seemed somewhere around sixteen or seventeen. She had become a very pretty, tall, girl, with red hair down to her hips and an athletic figure. She was sitting on her bed, her legs bent at the knee and curled up towards her chest. Her head was resting on them. But that was not what surprised him.

She was sobbing.

He glanced at the modern day Kaida but her face was stoically transfixed by the image.

"Kaida..." A scared and upset childlike voice called to her causing Kyo to turn back to the scene of Kaida's bedroom.

Raiden's young face of a six year old peeked around the side of a door. He looked like he too had been crying.

Kaida glanced up at her brother and casually wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She cleared her throat.

"Hey Rai, you all ready?"

The boy nodded and stepped into the room, awkwardly showing off his formal ware. He fidgeted with the hem, his eyes down cast to the floor.

"Mamma dressed me in it." He muttered.

Kaida's smiled weakly at him and climbed off her bed. She bent down in front of him and straightened his shirt, her hand coming up to caress his cheek.

"You look very handsome. Gran would be very touched."

"Where'd she go?" Raiden asked in a whisper.

Kaida took a deep breath. "I don't know Rai." She kissed his forehead.

"But I'm sure we'll see her there one day." She said.

"How?" He demanded with wide eyes.

"Because she wouldn't let us get away from her that easy." She responded. She grasped his hand in hers.

"Come on. They'll be waiting."

.

Kyo stared at the funeral and felt a stir of recognition. It reminded him painfully of his mother's death, except here there was no whisperings of it being someone's fault. Here, there was only mourning.

There were very few attendants. Kaida's family made up over half, with Ryu and someone Kyo presumed to be his grandmother also standing by the coffins side. Ryu had grown into a well built young man, although not a particularly tall one.

Kaida's turn to say goodbye came and she stepped up to the coffin slowly. Inside her thin and fragile grandmother looked as though she could be slumbering. Tears began to drip down her cheeks. Ryu reached forward and clasped her hand.

"Thank you." She whispered back at him. She leaned down and kissed her grandmother on the cheek.

"Good bye Gran, I'll miss you." She told her quietly, the words seeming insufficient.

She took her seat between Raiden and her granddad. The rest of the sermon went by in a blur, she barely registered other people speaking.

"I was a month from seventeen when my grandmother died. It was a very difficult time for all of us. She had been sick for a while, in the end she went in her sleep. My grandfather struggled a little with her passing. It was Raiden however that stopped speaking." Kaida told Kyo.

The image in the pool morphed into of Kaida apparently searching for something, a concerned look etched upon her face.

"This was a week after the funeral." Kaida said to him.

"Raiden!" The past Kaida shouted in worry.

"Raiden! Where are you?"

Suddenly she spotted something underneath the kitchen table and she dived down quickly to look. With a relieved gasp she saw the child lying there, staring into nothing.

"There you are! You had me terrified, you know that!" She said. She received no reply.

She sighed and reluctantly crawled under the table to him.

"Rai, why won't you talk to anyone? Is it because you miss her?"

Still no reply.

Biting back frustration Kaida pursed her lips in thought. She had tried every tactic she could think of to try and get Raiden to speak but it was all proving fruitless. She'd give anything to see her baby brother smile again.

A thought struck her and a genuine smile graced her face.

"Hey Rai, wanna fly?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

His face shot up to look at hers. He nodded excitedly.

Kaida rolled her eyes. A nod.

"Better than nothing I guess." She muttered.

"Come on you, I need you to get my wings on." She outstretched her hand, when he hesitated she raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Unless you're too scared."

He glared at her and took her hand in answer.

.

Kyo watched the two climb on to the roof through the attic window. Kaida popped through first before pulling Raiden up after her. She had a backpack on which she carefully placed on the tiles.

She took off her t-shirt, followed by her trousers until she was standing in her underwear. Raiden was too young to be embarrassed by his sister's stripping and just looked on with an anxious expression.

"All right, your move Rai." Kaida stated, opening her arms and facing her brother.

He waited only for a moment before running head first into the hug.

A puff of smoke and Kaida the dragon was back. The roof groaned under her sudden weight and she quickly flapped her wings so as not to break through the ceiling. She was immense, and Kyo could hardly believe just how much she grew.

Her body was made up of thick bands of muscle, about the size of a hippo with the tail adding another two metres to her length. Her colossal wings glinted in the sun, each spanning another three metres. Finally she towered over her brother at the height of an extremely tall horse. If not taller.

"That, my dear, is my full size. Pretty impressive, don't ya think?" The ghost Kaida asked with a grin.

"You're _huge_." Kyo breathed.

"How rude. One should never comment on a ladies weight."

"But, but, how is that even _possible_?" He demanded.

"I told you, I'm the last Sohma to ever bear the full brunt of the curse. This form had not been seen in the range of, oh I don't know, say seven hundred years before I was born. Suffice it to say I was a unique case of weird."

Kyo didn't know how to respond so he just nodded mutely. He couldn't help but feel a little grateful over the fact that Hatori turned into a relatively harmless sea horse instead of a multiple ton fire breeding dragon.

"Okay Rai, Climb on and tie the rope." Kaida ordered.

Rai complied, fastening a set of reins around Kaida's neck. He then tied himself to the other end of it and sat happily on her back. The back pack was securely clipped onto him.

"You ready Rai?"

"I'm ready Kaida!"

Kaida smiled, something that had a terrifying quality to it in her current form, and flapped her mighty wings. In an instant they were soaring into the sky, high above the clouds and prying eyes.

"AHH!" Raiden screeched in exhilaration, a grin plastered on his face. Kaida chuckled back, doing a spin which would have found him plummeting if not for the rope that bound him.

Unfortunately it was not a particularly _sturdy_ rope.

_**SNAP!**_

"Ah! Kaida!" Raiden howled in terror as he began to drop like a stone.

"Raiden!" Kaida screamed, quickly changing course and going after him. She tucked in her wings and dived straight down, her clawed hand out ready to catch him.

"I'm almost there Rai!" She told him, not wanting him to realise how close the ground was getting.

The world was coming up so rapidly. Too rapidly.

Kaida felt panic stir inside her. Just a little further, almost, almost, almost...

Fifty feet until impact.

Her talons were touching his shirt blowing in the wind.

Thirty feet.

Nearly there. Her hand hovered so close to him now.

Twenty feet.

_Gotcha. _

Relief flushed through her but she didn't have time to process it as she pulled up out of her dive. She had been too close to the ground however and she crashed roughly against the Earth. She spun as she did, landing on her back and protecting Raiden. Grass, dirt, and rock flew into the air as she slid across the ground and dug a furrow into the soil. They had landed in a clearing.

"Ow..." Kaida muttered. In a puff of smoke she changed back and Kyo could see the damage done. She had a lot of superficial scratches and bruising all over her body. It seemed her back received the worst of the damage as she rolled off it, onto her stomach. Raiden handed her the backpack and she pulled a blanket out but she cried out in pain. There was a long scratch on her right shoulder. It ran the length of her back at a diagonal and was bleeding heavily. Raiden's eyes widened and he took the blanket off her and put it around her himself.

"Kaida? Are you okay?" He asked in a terrified whisper.

"I, I am, just..." She tried to push herself up and yelped as her wrist refused to support her weight. It seemed to be broken.

"Just go get grandfather, Rai." She ordered.

He nodded and ran off as fast as his little feet would let him.

Kaida groaned and shut her eyes, succumbing to unconsciousness.


	8. Goodbye

_**A/N, Don't have much to say here so let's just do some review replies :) **_

_**ShadedStarlight0: Thanks, I'm really glad you are enjoying this story and that you took the time to review. I worked hard on getting the pace and description right in that last chapter so I'm glad you appreciated it.**_

_**Irgoomer: Don't worry, she's not dead yet**_

_**Black Wolf Lady: Haha thanks, I tried to make that last chapter interesting and fast paced. Glad you are enjoying the story!**_

_**So, anyway, here's chapter eight. Please review! **_

_**.**_

_**.**_

The water turned black and Kyo turned to Kaida in confusion. She didn't look up but she seemed to know he was staring at her as she offered an explanation.

"These are my memories. I don't remember my grandfather coming back with Rai or them carrying me to the house. I only recount waking up there."

As if to back up her words voices began to emanate from the pool, although the imaged did not change from darkness.

"What happened?" A male voice demanded. Kyo recognised it as Kaida's father.

"She fell." Her grandfather said gruffly. He sounded as though he was working hard on something.

The water suddenly turned violently red and a scream tore through the cave. With a jolt Kyo realised it was Kaida.

Her eyes flew open and her grandfather swore under his breath as she began to thrash against him.

"Hold her down, Tatsuya! I haven't finished stitching her back!"

Kaida's shoulders were forced on to the table she was lying on. She was on her stomach, her back exposed to her grandfather. Kyo swallowed in shock. The bloody gash that ran the course of her back looked far deeper than he originally thought it was. Blood covered towels were thrown around her as her grandfather quickly sewed up the wound.

"Shhh, It's okay Kaida, it's okay." Her father soothed, sweat beading down his forehead as Kaida struggled.

"It hurts." She whimpered.

"I know, love. Just hold on, we're nearly done."

Kaida bit her lip and nodded, attempting to control herself. She didn't last long as she was soon howling again.

Her father crouched down so he could look his daughter in the eye.

"Hold on little dragon. Hold on." He whispered.

.

The image changed again. As it morphed Kyo cocked his head curiously at Kaida.

"So...do you have a scar?" He asked.

Kaida chuckled. "What is it with you men and scars? And yes, I have quite the scar."

She gestured at the pool. "As you can see."

The past Kaida stood with her bare back to a full length mirror. She examined it over her shoulder with a pout.

"Not an attractive sight is it?"

Kaida turned to look to her door frame. Her mother stood there, a cold look in her blue eyes.

"Mother..." Kaida breathed. Kyo could guess this was the first time she had seen her since her accident.

"How could you be so foolish?" She demanded in a hiss.

Kaida swallowed. "I'm sorry, I, I just."

She ran a hand through her red hair and then winced as the action caused her back to burn painfully.

"I Just wanted to make Rai smile."

Her mother's narrowed her eyes at her. "Well you've done a wonderful job. After nearly plummeting to his death and then hearing his sister scream in agony as his grandfather attempted to save her life he has become decidedly un-smiley."

"I know. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen-"

"But it did. And I cannot trust it won't again." She interrupted coolly.

Kaida stood aghast. "What do you want me to do?"

Her mother's jaw tensed. She breathed out a sigh, suddenly looking exhausted.

"What indeed?"

.

"So your mother made you leave." Kyo stated matter-of-factly.

"Not exactly, now shush. Stop guessing and just watch."

Kaida was sitting on the steps that led up to her front porch, leaning against a wooden beam for support. She seemed to be deep in thought. Kyo didn't think she should be out and about. There was dark shadows under her eyes, her skin was ghostly pale. She looked as though she could drop down dead at any moment.

"Eh hem."

She glanced over her shoulder. Her grandfather was standing there.

"Might I join you?"

Kaida nodded. "Sure."

"How is your back?" He asked.

"Fine." She replied curtly.

"Really? Because by all logic and reason you should still be lying in bed. It's been three days since your accident Kaida. You shouldn't be up."

"I don't deserve to be waited on hand and foot."

"So instead you won't give yourself the opportunity to heal? If your stitches keep tearing like this you'll get an infection. You may die. Or if not that-" He reached out and ran his hand down her spine, when he took it back it was slick with red liquid.

"You'll bleed to death."

Kaida bit her lip. "Would that be so bad?" She muttered, mostly to herself.

Her grandfather froze. He took a deep breath, his hand hovering over his breast pocket.

"There, there is something I need to discuss with you." He said, the words seeming to pain him.

"What is it?" She said numbly.

He removed a tissue from his pocket and wiped her blood onto it.

"It can wait, I did not intend to trouble you with it, it is not of any major importance." He back tracked. He moved to stand but Kaida caught his arm.

"Grandfather, what is it?" She asked, her eyes wide.

He faltered and slowly sunk back down, running a hand through his greying hair. In that moment he seemed older than Kaida had ever seen him.

"I received a letter today. It, well, it implies that, your existence, it may not be as secretive any more as it once was."

Kaida's breath caught in her throat.

"Do you mean...?"

He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and she snatched it from him. Her words racked over the letter, her hand flying to her mouth. There was barely anything written on it. Yet the words that were offered all the explanation necessary.

_We know. Give us the last of the thirteen._

_We come in two days. Noon._

That was all is said. So simple. So clear.

"What are we going to do?" Kaida said slowly, deliberately controlling the fear in her voice.

"I had intended to pack all of you up and bring you somewhere new, as we have done whenever we thought _they_ were getting closer. However, I wonder if that is best anymore. I wonder, my sweet granddaughter, if you _want_ to flee."

"Granddad?" Kaida said in surprise.

"Now don't misinterpret me. I do not want you to go with them. But I can't shake this notion that perhaps you _belong_ with them. I fear you are unhappy here, Kaida. You feel as though this can't be your home. So if you want to stay, and I would quite like you to, that'll be the end of it, and we will burn this note and run. But the question is, do you want to?"

Kaida stared into the distance. Kyo could guess what she was thinking of, her family, Raiden, Ryu, always hiding, always having to be so cautious around everyone.

Her breath hitched and Kyo somehow knew what she was thinking of.

Her mother.

"I think," She said carefully, "It may be time I joined the Zodiac."

Her grandfather's face fell for a moment before he nodded. He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"Very well. I'll, I'll go tell your parents of your choice."

"Thank you. Do you mind if... do you mind if I tell Raiden?"

He shook his head. "Of course."

Kaida rose slowly, wincing as her back seared. She decided to go lie down for a moment before finding her brother.

Once she got to her room she fell atop her bed and wept.

.

"Rai? Can I come in?" She asked tentatively from his door.

"Yeah." He said, not looking up from his book. He adored to read and Kaida was glad he could find refuge among the written word. She smiled and sat on the bed beside him. She scooped him up and put him in her lap, ignoring her back's protests. This action would occasionally cause her to change however somehow she knew she wouldn't, she had a feeling her body was simply too damaged to make the transition. An amusing perk of her injury.

"I need to talk to you about something." She said, stroking his hair.

"Okay." He replied, not looking up.

"I'm going to be going away for a little while. I don't know how long."

"What?! Why?" Raiden demanded, his book suddenly forgotten.

"Shh, don't worry Rai, we'll see each other again. I just won't be living here anymore." She told him.

He scrambled out of her lap and looked up at her with large eyes.

"How long until you come home?"

"I don't know. But I _will_ come home."

"Do you promise?" He pushed, his little finger sticking out.

She glanced at it and swallowed. It seemed to symbolise so much, a tie to this life.

She hooked her finger with his. "I promise." She vowed.

.

The morning of her departure came. Kaida glanced up at the clock, watching it tick away her old life. Half eleven. Half an hour left now.

"Kaida, there is something I want to tell you before you...before you go." Her grandfather said carefully.

She frowned but nodded. She hoped this wasn't going to be an emotional goodbye. She didn't think she could handle it.

"There is something you should know about the other Sohmas, particularly about the other dragons."

Kaida frowned. "What is it?"

He took one of her hands in his. "Do you remember how I told you that my parents were members of the Zodiac?"

She nodded. "The dog and the...tiger, was it?"

"Yes that's right." He confirmed. "Well, you see, the thing is, that desertion, I believe it may have effected your curse. Made it stronger. More like the original curse."

"What do you mean by that? Am I larger than them? Do I change easier?"

Her grandfather sighed, shaking his head.

"Oh my sweet dragon, I am so sorry. But those cursed with the form of the dragon have turned into sea horses for the last five generations or so. Before that they never grew past the size of an ox or horse. You are, unusually powerful when you change."

Kaida pulled her hand from his.

"So what you are saying is, I am a freak among freaks." She said bitterly.

"No, dear. I'm saying you are a special case-"

But Kaida didn't seem to be listening.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?!"

"I didn't want to add to your hardships. But I could not allow you to stumble blindly into the world of the Sohmas'. They will not be expecting your form. It would be wise for you to ease them into it, tell them gradually."

Kaida was breathing heavily as the news sunk in. She still had to hide what she was. There was nowhere for her. Even among her fellow cursed brethren she was not normal.

"Is that all?" She said after a moment.

"Not quite. Remember, no matter what, we all love you here. You will always have family."

Kaida nodded curtly and offered him a weak smile.

"Kaida. _They're_ _here_." Ryu's voice came from the kitchen. He stubbornly insisted on seeing her off.

Kaida licked her lips and straightened herself.

"Alright then. Let's go say hello, shall we?"


	9. Meet the Sohmas

_**A/N: Hey, so really sorry about the delay, I have one hell of a hectic week with school work. Anyway here we go chapter nine! **_

_**ShadedStralight0: You won't have to wait long for the meeting, as for the other bit you shall have to be patient, for now. :)**_

_**Irgoomer: Well, if you insist... Tadah! I present you with more!**_

_**Pinksugarrush: I know, she's horrible sometimes! But in Fruits Basket they do say that sometimes parents start to reject their children. I feel bad for Ryu too, he's such a sweet heart. Glad you like the dialogue, I try to give punchy finishing lines to my chapters. That being said I don't always succeed...**_

_**Protagonist of Life: As is your username. **_

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Kaida walked to the front door with her head held high. There, on the porch, her parents stood nervously alongside a grim faced Ryu. Raiden was holding onto her father's legs looking up at the two newcomers with scared eyes.

One was a very attractive women, with long white blonde hair and eyes that glowed a vivacious green. She was very slender and unnaturally tall, Kyo imagined she was around six foot. She smiled sweetly, her pearly teeth flashing in her pale face. The man with her however seemed to be her antithesis. His black hair fell in a shaggy mane around his tanned face. His eyes were grey and bored. He had not bothered to fix a smile to his face and his 5 foot 10 muscular form was relaxed and unconcerned. Kyo almost wondered if he had somewhere better to be.

"Hello, you must be Kaida Sohma. My name is Tsukina, our grandfathers' were brothers. And here with me is Shun Sohma. Unfortunately he is not a direct relation." She bowed elegantly and Kaida attempted to do the same but her back would not allow anything but a slight inclination.

"Oh, don't strain yourself dear. I am aware of your little injury." Tsukina's voice was polite but there was something venomous in her eyes. Kyo doubted she was trustworthy.

"Thank you for your understanding." Kaida said carefully, her eyes glancing back and forward between the two. Kyo could practically see the gears of her mind whir as she tried to deduce exactly if these two were members of the Zodiac and if so what ones.

"It's no problem. Now, we'd best be leaving. Say your goodbyes Kaida. Shun-kun will take your things." Tsukina smiled and looked pointedly at the man who scooped up the bags as though they weighed nothing at all.

"You are a strong young man, aren't you?" Her grandfather praised Shun.

"He is. Built like an ox." Her father added. Kyo chuckled as he realised they too were trying to ascertain information about these people.

Shun seemed mildly surprised at being addressed but a grin graced his handsome face.

"Or a horse." He said with a wink in their direction.

Tsukina shot him a warning look which he blatantly ignored. Kaida's mouth twitched upwards for a fraction. She turned back to her family.

"Goodbye grandfather." She said sadly.

He clasped his hands on her shoulders.

"Take care of yourself, my dear."

Kaida nodded and looked to her parents. Her father kept swallowing as though there was something in his throat he couldn't quite dislodge.

"Good bye little dragon." He sighed, his voice not entirely stable.

Kaida smiled a little at the old nickname. She met her mother's eyes whose hand reached up to as though she meant to embrace her daughter but dropped as though she thought better of it.

"Try not to get into too much trouble." Her mother said fondly.

"I'll do my best. Bye Rai." Kaida rustled her brothers hair, his father was holding him back in case he decided to hug his sister.

Finally Kaida moved onto Ryu whose chin was shaking as he attempted to look stoic and resolute.

"Ryu..." Kaida whispered. She placed her forehead against his, an easy feat as they were the same height at five foot eight. He let out a rough breath.

"You better come visit" She told him fiercely.

"You better come back." He retorted.

She chocked out a laugh and stepped back from him. Tsukina and Shun were watching them curiously.

Kaida cleared her throat and straightened.

"Okay. Shall we?"

.

The image swirled again, blurring Kaida's face. The picture changed, showing somewhere that Kyo recognised in an instant. It had not changed much since Kaida's time.

She walked through the gates of the immense Sohma estate with wide eyes. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. Such a vast community, encapsulating everything they could possibly need to survive, yet at the same time it was so closed off from the rest of the world it was like entering a new country.

"Impressive isn't it?" Tsukina said, pride shining in her bright eyes.

"Its huge. Are all of these people Sohmas?" Kaida asked, staring at the people who went about their daily lives, farmers, shop keepers, doctors.

"For the most part. Some are people who married in, others have Sohma descendents." Tsukina answered.

"We like to keep potential Zodiac animals in house." Shun added, giving Kaida a smirk.

"Right, I see. Am I the last to come here?"

"Yes, the other twelve are already up in the main estate. Including _the_ _cat_." Tsukina said.

"These people don't all know about the curse. If someone in their family gets it they are let in on the loop." Shun explained as they continued to walk up to the main estate. The people seemed to move out of their way as they passed, some muttered respectful hellos, others bowing or even averting their eyes.

"Are they always like this?" Kaida demanded.

Shun shrugged. "Pretty much. We are considered the elite of the family as we live in the main house. Now you are too. _Dragon_."

Kaida frowned. "Right, elite. Interesting way to say cursed."

Tsukina rolled her eyes. "We are gifted. Our powers show us for what we are, superior beings. We were chosen by the god himself to carry this burden and this gift."

Kaida raised an eyebrow at her but Shun was the one that commented.

"Tsukina is a very...loyal member of our family. Personally I'm just glad that this whole segregation keeps them from touching me. Don't particularly want to have to go home naked." He added in Kaida's ear making her chuckle.

"I imagine no one wants to see that." Tsukina retorted having heard it.

"Well, at least I can hide out on the farms. If anyone sees you they all go running and screaming. And that's before you turn." Shun said.

"I'm sure I could smoothly slither off."

Kaida perked up. "Slither? So are you the snake?"

Tsukina smiled sweetly. "Indeed I am."

"And are you one of the older members of the zodiac or are there people more like my parents age?" Kaida asked curiously as Tsukina looked to be in her twenties.

Tsukina pursed her lips in thought. "One could say so. Although a lady should never reveal her age I will tell you I am twenty eight years old, Shun-kun is twenty four. Both the rooster and the ox are older than me by one year. As is our lord."

"Our Lord?" Kaida questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"The boss. Tsukina is prone to dramatics. Plus she is utterly devoted to-"

Tsukina's hand clamped over Shun's mouth. "I am respectful to our master. More than I can say for you, Shun-kun." She hissed.

Shun rolled his eyes but remained silent. Tsukina shot him a warning look and lowered her hand. They continued walking in silence until they reached a large wooden gate that encircled a large area.

"Here, we are. The main estate." Tsukina's eyes shone with pride. Shun's shone with boredom.

Kaida bit her lip nervously. Shun saw and chuckled good naturedly.

"Careful dragon. There's no water for us to throw you in if you turn yourself with stress."

Water?, Kaida nearly said in confusion before catching herself. Her grandfather was right, they didn't know of her true form. She had assumed that Shun and Tsukina at least would, considering the incident with Raiden.

"Yeah, I don't think my back can handle turning just yet." She said simply.

Tsukina smiled minutely. "Indeed, I imagine turning puts quite the strain on _you_."

Kaida started. Evidently, Shun may be the only one in the dark.

She responded by pushing the gates open. Inside was not much different to outside, except here the houses were larger and a path lead up to a beautiful traditional home.

"That is the main house. Our Lord is waiting for you there. I shall escort you." Tsukina said excitedly. Clearly her admiration for this 'Lord' ran a little deeper than customary respect.

"And _I'll_ be seeing you two later. I told the others I would inform them of your arrival. Nice meeting you dragon." Shun waved goodbye and walked away.

Kaida swallowed as she watched him go. Kyo could tell she felt a little less comfortable being alone with Tsukina. She glanced up to the silver haired blonde who smiled kindly.

"Well then, best be going, don't you think?"

Kaida nodded and they started for the house.

When they arrived the door opened to reveal a rather curiously haired man. It seemed to transition from a light brown colour at the front to black at the back.

"Let me guess, that's the ox?" Kyo said confidently. The ghostly Kaida turned her head and regarded him in surprise.

"Indeed it is. How did you know?"

"Please. You should see Haru's hair, trust me, you can spot him from a mile off."

She snickered, "Well, regardless, you are right. That's Eri Sohma. Eldest of the cursed Sohmas minus the boss man."

Eri regarded Tsukina and Kaida with apprehension. He seemed unsure about allowing them to enter.

"Eri-kun. Are you going to let us in?" Tsukina asked flashing a charming and dangerous smile.

"Is he expecting you?" He replied simply. He had a deep, resonate voice. He wasn't bad looking, his high cheek bones gave his face a feminine look to it., something that contrasted sharply with his masculine tone.

"You think I would come here if I wasn't wanted? I've brought our little lost lamb home." She gestured to Kaida whose cheeks began to pink. Kyo smirked, he hardly thought that was an accurate description for a girl capable of turning into a dragon at whim.

"So this is the lost little sea horse? She doesn't look like much." A snide voice remarked from within the house. Eri moved to the side to allow a young man to come forward. He had brown hair and jet black eyes.

Kyo's hackles rose and he knew, he just _knew_, that he was looking at Kaida's version of the rat.

"You should see me when I turn. I put on quite the water show." Kaida retorted, narrowing her eyes at the newcomer.

"Hmm, I might have to take you up on that, of course I would be tempted not to put you in the water at all. Tell me, is it true you suffocate when you turn?" Kira asked with a smug air.

"By all means, try me and find out." Kaida shot back. Tsukina visibly faltered and cleared her throat.

"Now Kira-kun, is that any way to treat the newest addition to our little home? Kaida, I hope you'll forgive Kira, despite being twenty he acts like such a child sometimes."

"I am merely having a little fun with our little dragon." Kira replied smoothly. Kyo watched Kaida's breath hitch at her nickname. Naturally he had no way of knowing that that was her pet name but it still stung to hear it.

"And here I thought arrogance was associated with the Dragon. Tell me Kira-san, which creature are you?" Kaida asked bluntly.

Kira's jaw twitched with annoyance and he brought himself to his full height, which brought him a mere inch above Kaida's.

"I am the rat." He proclaimed proudly. Kyo knew from experience that that meant a lot among the Sohmas. The child of the rat was held in very high esteem, the opposite of the cat.

Kaida, unfortunately for Kira, had not been brought up in such a society.

"That explains the beady eyes." She said with a smile before turning to Tsukina.

"You said that we are expected by someone?"

Tsukina chuckled, "Yes we are. Kira, Eri." She nodded at both of them before entering the house with Kaida in tow, leaving a gobsmacked Kira and mildly irritated Eri in their wake.

Kyo started laughing loudly at the expression on the rat's face. The blatant shock there was the best expression he had ever seen.

"As you can see, I did not start on the best of terms with the rat." Kaida said with a grin.

"Yeah, I can tell. When do you hit him?"

"Patience, Kitty. That comes later."

Tsukina led the Kaida of the past through the halls of a house that Kyo knew all too well. It seemed the leader of Kaida's time had the same room as his did.

Tsukina stopped outside a wooden door and raised her fist to knock. She hesitated for a brief moment before rapping her knuckles against the wood.

"Yes?" A man's voice replied.

"Sir, I have brought the dragon." Tsukina said, her voice suddenly wavering. Kaida raised an eyebrow at the change in her demeanour.

"I see. Enter."

Tsukina took a deep breath and opened the door. Kaida poked her head inside before following Tsukina into the room. It was a bare room, a few floor mats decorated it sparingly. Sitting on one of them in a traditional blue kimono was a handsome man in his late twenties. He had black hair and light blue eyes that studied her every movement. He was of a slight build but still muscular. His long limbs hinted that he would be very tall when he stood, perhaps even taller than Tsukina.

"My Lord." Tsukina bowed deeply. Kaida glanced at her and followed suit with a less sincere bow, her back panging painfully.

"So this is our runaway." He said in an amused tone. Kaida swallowed, his staring was making her uncomfortable.

"Yes this is Kai-"

"Is she mute?" The man demanded interrupting her.

"My, my lord?" Tsukina stuttered.

"Is. She. Mute?" He repeated, his tone light.

"N-no sir."

"Then why are you speaking for her?"

Tsukina eyes widened and she abruptly fell silent.

The man turned back to Kaida, a charismatic smile on his face.

"So sorry about that. Forked tongues, they do have a tendency to flicker." He stood and walked up to Kaida. Despite being a tall girl she seemed very small in front of him. He leaned forward, his face coming close to hers.

"Of course you would know all about that, wouldn't you, dragon?"

"I didn't know sea horses had forked tongues." Kaida muttered. The man's face broke into a huge grin and he started laughing manically.

"Oh but we both know you are no expert on sea horses, don't we?" His finger lifted her chin up.

"You see, dear, on top of being my leading lady Tsukina is a wonderful gather of information. She has quite the talent for sneaking. I imagine its thanks to the camouflage."

Kaida raised an eyebrow and twisted her head to look at Tsukina before glancing back to him.

"Are you saying that...you've been spying on me?"

The man shrugged and turned away from her. "I'm saying that no one can ever escape this family. Especially if they have cursed blood in their veins."

Kaida's chest rose and fell rapidly. "How long have you known where I was?"

He looked at her with bemusement. "Long enough."

Kaida had a dozen more questions but suddenly he snapped his fingers and Tsukina came running up like a well trained dog.

"Take Kaida to her new room. Put her up with Anju, I'm sure she'll be glad for the company."

"Of course, sir."

"But, I," Kaida protested as Tsukina took her wrist and pulled her towards the door,

"I have questions, I don't even know your name!"

"It's Osamu and I have answers, behave yourself and I may just give them to you. Oh, and one more thing, don't tell anyone of your true form. I don't want to have an onslaught of panic, there's a good girl." He waved his hand and Kaida was yanked from the room, dismissed.

Tsukina was lucky not to have lost a hand.


	10. Making Friends, Possibly

_**A/N, Right so back on track with updating, here is chapter 10. I hope you enjoy it and if you do, please review!**_

_**Guest: YAY!**_

_**Irgoomer: Thanks, I'm glad that I'm improving in my writing style and that the story is starting to get itself into gear, haha now that you mention I kind of see it...It's basically him, just, you know, minus the misshapen head and a few years :P**_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: Thanks, I'm trying to make them different to the ones of Kyo's time but maybe with one or two things in common. Hmm, they may or may not be making an appearance later on... It would, one could say, be awfully mean of me to keep them away from her forever... **_

_**So without further hinting from me, let's go with chapter 10!**_

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Tsukina continued to drag Kaida down the hall until she jerked her wrist from her grasp.

"You don't need to pull, I can walk just fine." Kaida snapped.

Tsukina looked a little startled by her anger but shrugged it off.

"Suit yourself. Your room is this way, you will be sharing with Anju Sohma. She's another member of the zodiac. I should warn you, she can be a little...brash."

Kaida raised an eyebrow but didn't reply. She walked alongside Tsukina until they stopped in front of a door with the number 9 written on it.

"Here we are. Welcome to your new home." She stated swinging the door open.

Kaida bit back a gasp. The room was far larger than she was expecting, it looked to Kyo like one you would find in a high end hotel just with a traditional theme to it. There was a large amount of floor space, with two king sized beds on either end of the room and a large glass panel at the back of the room leading out on to gardens. A door to her left implied they had an ensuite.

And standing in the middle of the room looking very annoyed was one of the most beautiful girls Kyo had ever seen.

She was short enough, only about five foot two or three but she made up for it by being toned, her defined muscles clearly visible as she wore only shorts and a tank top. Her tanned skin showed she spent a lot of time in the sun, her golden hair hung softly to her shoulders. She had strong features but she was still feminine in her appearance. Two canines protruded from her mouth and lightly indented her bottom lip, showing she was clearly not in a good mood. That and the fact her amber eyes were narrowed suspiciously at Kaida and Tsukina.

"Anju-chan. This is Kaida, she will be staying with you from now on."

"Why can't she stay with Sonomi?" Anju demanded bluntly.

Tsukina sighed, "Because our Lord has requested for her to stay with you. And Sonnmi lives with Kuya already. Plus she is nine."

Anju shrugged. "Well give her her own room then. I don't see why we have to share."

"It's so you can keep an eye on me. They're afraid I'm going to go run off into the night, I'm guessing." Kaida answered causing Tsukina to glance at her.

Anju looked surprised. She seemed to be regarding Kaida with new found interest.

"Are you?"

"Depends. Is everyone like you?"

Tsukina's palm came up to her face in despair.

Anju froze for a moment. Then her face broke out into a dazzling grin, her canines retracting to a normal size.

"I like you. You can stay."

"Yay, I'm so excited." Kaida said sarcastically.

Tsukina groaned, "Great. Now there's two of them." She muttered.

"I'll have Shun-kun bring your things here once he's finished with the others." She added before leaving Anju and Kaida to each other.

Kaida turned awkwardly to the other girl.

"Your hair is kind of weird." Anju said, her head tilted. Her fingers came up to touch the ends of Kaida's fire locks.

"I get it from my mother. The curse makes it more pronounced."

Anju nodded. "Kind of like my eyes. Or Eri's hair."

"Yeah, I've never met someone with gold eyes before." Kaida agreed.

"Mine go a little like that when I change." She added absentmindedly.

Anju frowned. " I thought you were the dragon? How can you tell when you're a seahorse what colour eyes you have?"

Opps.

Kaida swallowed faintly. "I, I can see them fine when I'm that size. They look black to other people but I can see some gold in them..." She back tracked, not sounding very convincing.

"Anyway, what animal are you? If you don't mind me asking." Kaida said, changing the subject.

Anju frowned but let it slide. "I'm the tiger."

"Ah, well that explains why you're so territorial."

Anju chuckled. " Speaking of which, let me show you around the room."

As Anju told Kaida which bed was hers, what she was and was not allowed to touch there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Anju shouted.

"Room service. Who'd you think fluff ball?"

Anju glowered at the door. "Shun."

She swung open the door and Shun pushed past her, his arms laden with bags.

"Hello fluffy. How are you this fine morning?" He asked, throwing the bags on Anju's bed.

"Hey, that's my bed!"

"I know."

"Dammit Shun, put Kaida's stuff on her bed." Anju growled, her eyes glowing a more intense gold.

"But I'm tired now, I don't want to have to carry all of these things anymore." Shun whined although his eyes sparked mischievously.

"What are you complaining about? You made me carry all the heavy things you damn mule." A new voice grumbled from the door frame.

Kaida, who had been watching the exchange with amusement turned to the new voice. In the door frame stood a tall and slim figure. He had grey-black hair and deep blue eyes. Cat ears popped up from the top of his head and he moved with a certain air of tension.

"You must be the cat. I'm Kaida, the dragon." Kaida inclined her head in place of a bow. Stupid injured back.

The boy looked taken back by being directly addressed.

"Yeah, so what if I am the cat?" He grunted, dumping her belongings on the ground.

"Is that everything Shun or do you need me to do some other crap as well?" He shot at the older man. Shun glanced over to him and waved his hand.

"Yeah that's it. You can go Hisao-kun."

Hisao spun on his heel and stormed out of the room.

"Wow, what's his problem?" Kaida muttered.

Shun and Anju shared a look for a moment.

"Well, you know, he's the cat. That makes a guy kind of edgy."

Kaida looked at them in confusion.

"Why?"

Anju's mouth was open and she looked, for once, a little lost for words.

"Eh well. You know, he's not part of the Zodiac..."

"But he's cursed." Kaida said.

Shun cleared his throat. "Right, well have fun explaining that one tiggy. I have business to attend to."

"What business?" Anju demanded.

"Something someone as young as you could not possibly comprehend."

"Why, what age are you Anju-san?"

Anju looked at Kaida blankly.

"Fifteen."

Kyo's eyebrows shot up. He would have guessed eighteen. Minimum.

Clearly Kaida was thinking along the same lines.

"Wait, I'm older than you?"

"That depends. Have you been alive for longer than fifteen years?" Anju asked sarcastically.

Kaida gave her a withering look.

"Yeah, I'm sixteen. So is there a lot of people around here who are around our age?"

Anju nodded. "Kira has just turned twenty. Hisao is eighteen. Then there is Haruka's my, well she's fifteen too. She's _really_ annoying."

"For Anju that's code for not a bitch. Ironic considering she's the dog..." Shun put in from the door.

"I thought you said you were leaving!" Anju shouted, flinging a shoe at his head. He caught it.

"Eww, it's pretty. Do you have the other one?"

"Shut up!" She said throwing the matching pair.

"Thanks! These will go great with my new kimono!" Shun said sarcastically before darting out of the door.

"Uh! I hate that stupid donkey!" Anju snarled, collapsing onto her bed.

"He's a pretty big kid considering his age."

"You're telling me. My guess it's because there isn't really anyone else around his age here except for Suki and Kira and Kira has his head so far up his ass he can breathe through it. As for Suki, well she's about as interesting as she is dangerous."

"Whose Suki?" Kaida asked, getting irritated by all these new people she had to learn about.

"Hmmm? Oh she's the rabbit. She's twenty three and spends most of her time tending to small wounded animals."

"How horrible...?" Kaida asked sceptically, her brow furrowed.

Anju dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Yes, yes. That's very nice of her. But still, boring."

Kaida scoffed a laugh and rolled her eyes.

"So, moving back to the subject you tried to deter from, the cat?"

Anju groaned. "He's just, not like us, alright? Look do you know the story of the cat being told the wrong day and all that crap?"

Kaida nodded. "Yes. My grandfather told me about it."

"And yet he couldn't find it in him to tell you this bit. The cat is basically beneath us. He's cursed. But not like we are, cause at least we're part of the original zodiac. He's the freak of the zodiac. It sucks but that's just how it is."

Kyo's jaw tightened and he looked away from the pool, wanting to put his hands over his ears and block out the words that he had been hearing all his life.

Kaida's voice emanated up to him from the water.

"But, that doesn't seem right." Kaida said.

He glanced back at the pool.

Anju was looking at Kaida exasperated. After a moment she nodded.

"No. It doesn't."

Anju glanced out the window.

"I have training to go to. When you've finished unpacking, come find me. I'll be in the dojo." Anju pushed past her, possibly hoping to avoid anymore of this conversation.

"Em...Okay." Kaida called after her.

The image in the pool swirled and Kyo imagined it was skipping past Kaida putting her stuff away as when it cleared he could see her walking out of the main house.

She was looking around with wide eyes, as though it had just dawned on her how large this place was.

And that she had no idea where the dojo _was_.

She pursed her lips in thought when a figure walked past. Kaida brightened and ran up to her.

"Hey, excuse me." She called but this seem to prompt the person to move away.

"Hey!" Kaida shouted, catching her wrist. The girl she had just caught let out a terrified squeak.

"I'm sorry, miss, I'm so sorry, I should have made sure there was no one here before I came in. I didn't mean to interrupt you Miss Sohma."

Kaida looked at her incredulously. The girl was wearing a maid outfit so she presumed her to be a servant. Her brown hair was pulled up tight but some wispy bits framed her delicately featured face. Her grey eyes looked absolutely terrified as they stared into Kaida's gold brown ones.

"Em...I just wanted to ask you where the dojo was. I'm sorry if I've frightened you, I didn't mean to." Kaida muttered, shamefaced. She dropped the girl's hand.

"My name is Kaida. What's yours?" She asked tentatively.

The maid looked like Kaida had asked her to strip naked and slap Osamu across the face.

"Right... Well, you don't have to tell me, I suppose. Could you just, perhaps, point in the direction of the dojo?"

She nodded minutely and raised a shaking finger. Kaida smiled.

"Thank you. I'll be seeing you, I guess. Or not, I don't really know how things work here yet... I'm sorry again for scaring you."

Kaida began to walk away.

"Mura." The young girl whispered.

"What was that?" Kaida asked, glancing back at the girl who looked about as old as she was.

"My name is Mura, miss."

Kaida grinned brilliantly, "Nice to meet you, Mura."

She danced off towards the dojo. As she moved out of sight, and what she imagined Mura thought was ear shot, she heard her whisper,

"Nice to meet you, Miss Kaida."


	11. No Fighting Children

_**A/N:**_

_**You have to proof read.**_

_**But I don't wanna, I'm sleepy and I just want to put out this chapter and go to bed!**_

_**You leave in mistakes when you proof read! How bad do you think it'll be if you do nothing?**_

_**...I am pretty bad for leaving in mistakes by accident...**_

_**Yeah, so get off your lazy ass and PROOF READ!**_

_**...I hate you.**_

_**Anyway, onto review replies :) **_

_**Guest: Yup, but some of it will be most amusing shit. Other will be violent and horrible for the other people involved. **_

_**Irgoomer: I know, I'm writing it and I find it hard to keep up with all these people. Don't worry, not all of them are important enough to keep track of, the ones that are will be mentioned enough that hopefully it won't be too confusing. **_

_**.**_

_**.**_

"Kaida-san, glad to see you didn't get lost in the wilderness." Anju said when she saw the red head arrive.

"Yeah, I had to ask for directions. And I may have permanently scarred one of the maids...Or I made a friend, I'm not entirely sure."

Anju chuckled. She twirled her fighting staff and laid it across her shoulders, her hands hanging casually of it.

"You come to train?" She asked causing Kaida to frown.

"Em...I've never done any kind of martial art before...and I'm kind of injured..." Kaida admitted awkwardly. Anju raised an eyebrow at her in surprise. Suddenly there was a snide laugh.

"A dragon with no bite? How redundant." Kira teased, leaning against one of the dojo walls, his black rat eyes gleaming.

Kyo had a feeling Kaida was tempted to show Kira just how big her bite really was but she merely shrugged.

"There was never a reason for me to learn."

Kira smiled tightly, he walked up to Kaida with cool, calculated steps. He stopped when he was less than a foot in front of her and brought his face down to hers.

"For a pretty girl like you I think there is every reason to learn." He murmured causing Kaida to blanch.

"Oh quit being a pervert Kira and go bother someone else." Anju snapped, yanking Kaida away from him.

Kira glanced at Anju and then at the hand on Kaida's arm.

"So you've already decided she's your property, have you Anju-chan? That makes this a lot more fun." He purred.

"Everything okay here?"

The trio turned to see Hisao at the door. He was regarding them with cautious expressions. Kira straightened at the sight of the cat and Kyo wondered for split second if they were friends.

"I don't remember inviting you _kitty_." Kira spat, glaring at Hisao with pure disgust.

Nope, not friends.

"And I don't remember needing your permission, rodent." Hisao said looking at Anju and Kaida, a question evident in his blue eyes. The pupils had become slits in the presence of Kira.

"We're fine, Kaida-san just came to see the dojo and _Kira-kun_ was just leaving." Anju said tightly.

Kira looked at them and smirked. "But I still have training to do, you see unlike our little dragon here the child of the rat does not squander their gifts."

Kaida gave him a look that said if she wasn't under specific orders not to, she would _love_ to show him her gifts. Particularly the fire breathing one.

"Why are _you_ here, _Hisao_?"

"You're not the only one that works out here, _Kira_."

"True but I'm the only one that makes any progress." Kira sniped.

"Believe what you want vermin." Hisao moved into the dojo and Kira stepped in front of him. Hisao sighed.

"Move."

"Why should I?"

"Don't you have a cheese wheel to be eating?"

"Sorry, I couldn't make that out, I think you may have a hairball coming up."

"For the love of the gods, can you two ladies please stop bitching?" Anju snapped.

The two men turned to her as if they had completely forgotten both she and Kaida were still present.

"She's right, we should settle this in a less verbal manner." Kira said with an evil glint in his eyes.

Hisao rolled his beautiful blues. "Suit yourself, you damn rat."

They moved into the dojo and faced each other. Kira looked smug, Hisao looked as though he'd really rather get this over with. Anju cleared her throat.

"On the count of three. One, two-"

Both of them dived at each other. Anju buried her head in her open palm.

"Why do I even bother?" She moaned.

"Whatever, come on Kaida." Anju started to leave and Kaida followed, hesitating as she went.

Kaida glanced back at them. "Are we not going to stay and watch?"

"No point. I already know exactly how it will go. Hisao will start out strong, Kira will pretend to tire out, Hisao will start to ease off and then he will lose."

Kyo growled, even in Kaida's time, the rat won.

"Will they be alright?"

Anju shrugged, "Depends what kind of mood they're in. Sometimes Hisao will half maul Kira with those claws of his, other times Kira will beat the crap out of Hisao after he gets him on the ground. Those boys don't play nice."

They were a fair distance from the dojo at this point and Kada sighed and kept walking. Suddenly she heard a yelp and she looked back anxiously.

Anju frowned at her, "Kaida...?"

Kaida sent her an apologetic look before sprinting back the way they had come. She arrived at the dojo, panting, to see Hisao on the ground with Kira pinning him down. His fist was raised and judging by the state of his knuckles he had been using it for a while.

He punched Hisao again causing his head to smack back against the floor. He groaned and his lids drooped, causing Kyo to believe he had fainted.

"Stop!" Kaida ordered. Kira glanced back in surprise.

"You going to take his place?" He teased.

Kaida's eyes flashed viciously, the evening sun causing them to shine.

No, Kyo thought to himself, not the sun, they had turned golden. Kaida was losing her temper.

The rat is going to _get_ it.

Kaida glared malevolently and Kira frowned, slowing standing.

"Well? You going to just look at me or are you going to do something? Hmm, little sea horsey?"

Kaida growled and half lunged towards him but a hand clamped on her shoulder. She glanced back and her face paled.

Tsukina's hand was firmly holding her back, anger reflected in her green eyes. Anju came running up behind her and Kyo saw her swear at the sight of the tall blonde woman.

"Now Kira-kun, is that any way to treat our newest little family member? Especially one still recovering from an injury." Her voice was light but her well filed nails were beginning to bite into the flesh of Kaida's shoulder.

Kira shrugged. "She's a little too sensitive for her own good, running to the aid of the _cat_, of all creatures."

"She has yet to learn of our ways. She is but a poor girl from the country, she doesn't know that your little tiffs are nothing to be concerned about."

"Little tiff? He's knocked him unconscious!" Kaida protested.

"He has suffered worse. Ah, Anju-chan, be a dear and bring Hisao to the infirmary, won't you? Kira-kun, do us all a favour and go take a walk. I need to have words with Kaida-chan here. Alone."

Kaida raised an eyebrow at the use of 'chan' but other than had no reaction to Tsukina's words.

After the dojo was cleared of the others, Anju managed to rouse Hisao enough to half drag him to a doctor, Tsukina pushed Kaida forcefully away from her.

"A day. You have been here _a_ _day_, and already you defy the orders of our Lord." Tsukina snarled.

"I was provoked." Kaida shot back loudly.

"Besides, it's not like I turned, the peace has not been breached or whatever it is your precious Osamu-san is afraid is going to happen. No harm done."

"No harm done?! Do you not realise how stupid that sounds? Kira may be an arrogant bastard but he is no idiot. He will notice if you portray traits not associated with the Dragon."

Kaida tilted her head in confusion. "What does that mean? Associated with the Dragon? I am the Dragon, how can I posses traits that don't belong to my form?"

"I mean physical traits. The elongated canines, the golden eyes, the talons. These manifest themselves in the cat or the tiger even, on occasion, with myself, but never, in over six generations, have they been by those cursed by the Dragon."

"So, you are saying that I can't even get annoyed here? Just in case someone notices that I'm not _quite_ _normal_."

"Indeed."

Kaida groaned and kicked over a chair that was pushed against the wall. She immediately regretted it as pain shot through her back causing her to swear. Tsukina smacked her over the back of her head.

"Language." She chastised before leaning down to study Kaida's back.

"That's another thing. You should not be moving, that wound will never heal if you keep exerting it."

"I don't notice it unless it is agitated."

"Well you have certainly been agitating it. I fear it has begun to bleed again." Tsukina prodded it causing Kaida to yelp.

"You are lucky, it seems a side effect of your curse is that you have a faster healing rate than normal, even among members of the zodiac. That being said, I'd prefer it if you didn't keep running to save kittens every five minutes."

Kaida rolled her eyes, swallowing back the bile that was rising in her throat. It seemed the pain only came when she had stopped moving, as though her mind simply refused to acknowledge it when she was busy.

"Come, let's get you to your room. You've had a long day, I imagine you need some rest."

"Are you going to tell Osamu-san about my little altercation with Kira-san?"

Tsukina froze, her teeth biting her delicate lip. She quickly cleared her throat.

"No, there is no need to bother him with something as frivolous as this. Now, to bed." She instructed fiercely, her arm rapping around Kaida's back and pulling her out of the dojo. Kaida made no protest this time, instead her brow furrowed as she studied Tsukina curiously. Kyo did the same, as both of them came to an identical conclusion.

Tsukina, for all her fawning and admiration, was afraid of Osamu. Kyo knew enough to understand. Kaida, it seemed did not. Kyo had a feeling she would, in time.

.

The pool began to swirl and morphed to an image of Kaida sleeping on her bed. Her eyelids fluttered open and she yawned sleepily before screeching.

Anju's face was an inch from hers.

"What are you doing?" Kaida demanded, pushing herself away from the other girl. She sat up and pulled her covers up to her chest protectively.

"I want to talk to you."

"So you stood in front of me and waited for me to wake up?"

"Pretty much. Yesterday, why did you turn back?" Anju asked getting straight to the point. Kyo had a feeling she did that a lot.

Kaida rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm sorry if I broke some kind of Zodiac rule about not getting involved in other peoples fights-"

"No, I don't mean why as in 'philosophically' or whatever, I mean why as in, why did you choose to turn around_ at that moment?"_

Kaida's mouth fell open and she looked a little startled. "I, I heard a shout. It sounded like Hisao-san and he helped us so I-"

She stopped as Anju suddenly straightened and stared at her with suspicious eyes.

"I thought as much." She muttered.

"Em...Anju-san, is something wrong?"

"You know, all members of the Zodiac have some heightened senses. I figure it's part of being part animal, in a way. Me, I'm a bit of an all rounder, my reflex's are pretty good and I'm stronger than I look. Tsukina has a pretty good sense of touch, she can feel vibrations in the air and ground, that's how she knew you were in the dojo, she felt your footsteps running up to it. Mostly it depends on what kind of animal we turn into. But _you_, you're the dragon, now I know damn all about sea horses but I know from stories that your curse is known for their mental capabilities more so than anything else. So how in _hell_ did you hear Hisao getting hit when I, the bloody _tiger_, didn't."

Kaida's mouth hung open in surprise. "I...I don't know. Maybe I didn't hear it really, maybe I just imagined it."

Anju didn't look convinced by Kaida's lie and Kyo could see the dragon struggling to keep an honest expression on her face. The two stared into each others' eyes, gold versus brown, for a moment, the tension mounting by the second.

Anju's breathed out a grunt of annoyance. "Fine. Don't tell me. It's only your second day, I suppose I can understand if you don't feel like talking just yet."

The short blonde went to leave the room before hovering at the door.

"I'll give you till the end of the month before I ask again. Either you tell me then or you find yourself a new roommate."

She shut the door hard behind her, leaving Kaida alone. She groaned and collapsed back onto her bed.

"Wow. I suck at making friends." She remarked.


	12. Stripping, School and Sisters

_**A/N: Sorry about late update, I have exams for the next two weeks so I might be a little late again for a while... I promise to keep working on it whenever I can though! **_

_**Review Replies:**_

_**Irgoomer: Don't worry, things start getting better in a little while. She makes FRIENDS! :D **_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: I know, sorry about that, trying to keep it as clear as possible, don't worry not all of them are that important and I'll keep putting reminders in for the next couple of chapters at least. Thanks, I'm trying to keep the connection between this generation and Kyo's.**_

_**Guest: That is a beautiful description of her situation. :D**_

_**Please Enjoy and Please Review **_

.

"You really made a mess of your first day, you know that?" Kyo said to Kaida.

She glared at him but a smile played on her lips. "Shut up. I was just a little out of practice with, you know, people."

Kyo smirked and turned back to the pool, wanting to know what happened next. He found himself very interested in Kaida's life all of a sudden.

"Shall we move forward one week? Not much happened between that first day and then as I was confined to the quarters of my bed room. Tsukina forced me to rest and allow my back to recover." Kaida explained as the water swirled and glowed.

The young Kaida stood in her bedroom alone, her bare back reflected in the full length mirror. The bandages she had just removed hung in her hand, exposing her skin. She frowned. Kyo could see her take in the long diagonal scar that now marred her. It began at her right shoulder, curving gently as it moved down to her left hip. The edges looked puckered and jagged but it had scabbed over.

"Woah, did you get into a fight with a bear or something?"

Kaida yelped and quickly turned to the door, her arm moving up to cover her chest. Anju stood there, a curious expression on her gorgeous face. Kaida scurried backwards to her bed and grabbed her shirt.

"Ever hear of knocking?!" She snapped as she covered herself.

Anju raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Not when it's my bloody room. What's with the panic to cover yourself, we're both girls, I'm not exactly going to jump you."

Kaida swallowed. "I don't feel comfortable being naked around you, I've only known you a week."

Anju looked shocked before throwing her head back and roaring in laughter.

"Seriously? You, a member of the zodiac, don't feel comfortable being _naked_? Are you kidding me? What kind of sheltered back ground did you come from?" She gasped out.

Kaida scowled at her. "So you lot just prance around topless here?"

Anju became slightly more serious but a grin was still plastered to her face.

"Not exactly. But us members of the zodiac get used to being unclothed around each other pretty damn quick. I've seen all the other animals in their birthday suits. It's not exactly a massive issue. Just try not to stare."

Kaida bit her lip. "I didn't care so much around my family but besides them and a friend of mine no one had ever seen me turn, and even when I did it around them I usually had something handy to cover myself with..." She paused for a second.

"So you really don't care if any of the men see you...you know..." Kaida stuttered out, her cheeks pinking a little. Kyo had a feeling she wasn't expecting this conversation when she got up this morning.

"Huh, you look all sweet and naive. What the hell happened to you?" He asked the apparition. She smacked him across the back of the head with a translucent hand, causing him to hiss.

"What do you mean? I am still _incredibly_ sweet."

He rubbed the back of his head and eyed her in disbelief. "Yeah, sure."

"You innocent little flower. Have you never seen a guy naked before?" Anju's voice directed them back to the pool.

"Besides my little brother, no." Kaida answered.

Anju let out a noise of surprise and shook her head.

"Trust me, that is going to change relatively soon. The idiots around her are constantly turning and they have a tendency to forget to leave out spare clothes."

Kaida repressed a gulp, suddenly feeling out of her depth.

"Anyway, what the hell happened to your back?" Anju demanded, recalling the topic Kaida had hoped to divert from.

"I had an accident before I got here." She stated simply.

"An accident? With what exactly?"

Kaida paused for a brief moment before replying. "I fell out of a tree."

"Were you holding a scissors at the time?"

"No, but it was pretty high and I landed on an awful lot of branches, to be honest I don't remember a whole lot, I sort of got knocked out when I hit the ground."

Surprisingly, Anju nodded in understanding. "Happens to the best of us. Now come on, we've got to go." She picked up a bra and flung it at Kaida's face. She caught it on instinct and then cringed faintly as Anju gave her a suspicious look at her quick reflexes.

"Nice catch." The younger girl said slowly.

"Thanks. What do you mean we've got to go, go where?" Kaida asked as she skilfully put the garment on without taking her shirt off.

"You didn't think you'd be stuck in here forever did you? Tsukina told me to bring you with me to class today. Our tutor is waiting for us in one of the outer houses."

"Tutor?" Kaida asked in surprise. "Who's in class with us?"

"Just a few more zodiac kids. Once you hit twenty you can leave, but Osamu makes us go until then. Don't worry Sensei is cool, he's one of the few normal people who are in the loop. His daughter is Suki, the rabbit."

"Okay, so what time does class start?"

"Oh about five minutes from now."

"What?!"

"Yeah, you might want to hurry up. It's a ten minute walk."

"You bit-"

Kaida was cut off by Anju helpfully throwing her shoes at her.

.

When they arrived, Kaida panting a little, Anju completely unbothered, the class had already started.

"Ah, Anju-san. Glad to see you finally decided to come to class." Sensei said calmly although his eyebrows raised minutely in shock. He was an average heighted man with a slim build. He had a head of white hair and his kind face was deeply lined. Kaida couldn't help but be surprised that this man had a daughter in her early twenties. He looked old enough to be her grandfather.

"I thought I'd make your day Sensei."

"Well, that you have my dear. It has been almost two weeks. Ah, I see you have brought me a new mind to mould to my will." His sharp blue eyes flashed mischievously.

"That is a really creepy way of putting it but yes, I have. This is Kaida Sohma." Anju introduced her with a relaxed hand gesture in her direction.

"Nice to meet you Sensei." Kaida stated, politely bowing.

"Welcome Kaida-san, tell me, do you have much in the way of formal education?"

Kaida bit her lip for a second. "Not exactly, I was home schooled by my grandfather. It was a wiser move than my going to a traditional school."

Sensei nodded in agreement. "Very well. We shall see how you do and if you have any issues feel free to come up to me after class."

Kaida smiled her thanks and took a seat beside Anju in the back row. From there she had a look around at her class mates. Hisao sat alongside them, although he was at the far end of the row, sitting away from the others. There was a faint bruise alongside the left of his face from his fight with Kira. He ignored them when they sat down.

Up the front sat a young looking girl, about nine or ten, and a boy who was probably slightly older. The girl was raven haired where as the boy had strawberry blonde locks.

Behind them in the second role sat a teenage girl. Her light brown hair spilled all the way down her back. She seemed as though she would be short if she stood up.

Kaida turned to Anju, probably, Kyo imagined, to ask her who exactly was here, and froze. The tiger was staring daggers at the back of the other teenage girl, elongated canines indenting her lower lip.

"Anju? Is everything alright?" Kaida asked cautiously. Anju's head snapped towards her. Her pupils were slits. As Kaida stared into them they began to shift back to a normal circular shape.

"Yes, why wouldn't it be?"

"No reason." Kaida muttered in reply. Anju turned away, looking at their Sensei rather than the mystery girl.

"What's up with your tiger?" Kyo whispered in wonder.

"Shhh! Seriously, Kitty, practice some patience for once." Kaida chastised.

He rolled his eyes but turned back to the pool.

"Haruka-san? What answer did you get for this?" The sensei asked.

The girl with the long brown hair glanced up from her desk and replied smoothly.

"57, Sensei."

"Correct as always. Well done, Haruka-san."

"Yeah, whose a good girl?" Hisao murmured under his breath causing Anju to snort. Kaida frowned at them, missing the joke.

The class dragged on as Kaida took notes. Kyo could tell by her mixture of bored and confused expressions some of the information was completely new to her where as other parts was something she had far too much experience with.

Once it ended, Anju grabbed Kaida's arm.

"Let's go." She ordered hastily.

Kaida's eyes widened in surprise but she allowed herself to be ushered out of the classroom.

"Anju!" A feminine voice called after them. It sounded weary but determined at the same time. As though the speaker had something they needed to discuss but knew the conversation would not go well.

The short blonde froze and inclined her head to the voice. She refused to turn and face her, however. "What do you want Haruka?" She spat over her shoulder.

"We need to talk, I haven't seen you for-"

"That is sort of the point, mutt." Anju shot back, cutting her off.

"Anju...Please, come home-"

"I'm trying to." Anju snapped, storming off. Kaida glanced between her and Haruka with wide eyes. She had no idea what had just transpired.

"Don't bother with her, Haruka. She's not going back to your house. Can you blame her?" Hisao said, walking out from the classroom. His grey black hair was scruffy and he had a bored expression on his face, his backpack causally slung over his shoulder causing his wrist to be exposed. Kyo could see a bracelet glint in the light. His fingers slid over the beads encircling his own wrist, it was strange to see them on someone else.

"I don't recall asking you, Hisao-kun. Although I thank you for your concern." Haruka spoke calmly, her brown eyes cold. She spotted Kaida and walked up to her with a determined air.

"You must be the Dragon. My name is Haruka Sohma, I am the dog of the zodiac. It's a pleasure to meet you." She bowed and Kaida blanched. The girl had an air of stifled emotion.

"Em, yeah. Nice to meet you too." Kaida answered, bowing back. Haruka gave her a tight smile before turning on her heel and leaving.

"What was that about?" Kaida asked Hisao. He glanced at her in surprise. He shook his head a little.

"I suppose you wouldn't know, would you? Haruka is Anju's sister. Her twin sister."

Kaida looked taken aback. "I had no idea."

Hisao shrugged, "How were you supposed to know? You just got here, don't worry about it. You might want to go check on Anju though, she's probably punching something right about now."

He turned away from her and sauntered off smoothly. Kaida noticed he wasn't heading in the direction of the main house, Kyo swallowed. He recognised where Hisao was going, towards the House of the Cat. It seemed Hisao hadn't been imprisoned there yet. Kyo wondered how long he had before he was.

Kaida watched him go for a moment before following after Anju. She did after all share a room with the girl and didn't _entirely_ trust her not to brake something of value.


	13. Family Matters

_**A/N: Allo my lovelies. Sorry for the delay, but I'm trying to get these out as quick as possibly, this chapter is another information fest so if you have any questions feel free to PM or leave a review and I will answer it as best I can,**_

_**Review Replies:**_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: Haha, thanks glad you liked that bit, I enjoyed writing it :) I'm glad that you like the other characters, I was afraid people would hate them. **_

_**Irgoomer: Thank you for being so sweet and understanding, even if you don't want to be :) Trust me, I'd rather be writing than studying**_

_**Guest: Yeah, Kitty got claws.**_

_**So, without further ado, please enjoy and please review. **_

_**.**_

_**.**_

"So...you have a sister." Kaida said awkwardly as she entered her bedroom. Anju turned sharply to look at her, jaw clenched.

"What of it?"

"Nothing, it's just, you never mentioned her before."

"Oh because in the time you've been here there has been _so_ many opportunities to mention her. Get off your high horse, you don't know half of what is going on here." Anju snarled.

Kaida's eyebrow rose in surprise. "Fair enough. But I don't have to been here for long to know that it's a little unusual for two sisters not to live together. Haruka-san clearly wanted to talk to you about it-"

"Twins."

"I'm sorry?"

"We're twins." Anju said stiffly. "Haruka is younger."

"Right." Kaida said carefully, her eyes cautiously assessing her roommate. Anju's fist was curled tightly, her shoulders were rigid.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." She added.

Anju glanced quickly up at her. She swallowed uncomfortably for a moment. She was regarding Kaida with a thoughtful expression.

"Did you get on with your parents?" She said finally.

Kaida looked taken aback by the question. "That depends."

"On what?"

"On my mother."

Anju barked out a laugh. "Yeah, I know the feeling." She licked her lips before sitting heavily on her bed.

"My parents...they find me difficult."

Kaida frowned. "How so?"

"They wanted an angel. They got a demented hell cat. My father, he is an important business man, well, he was until he had two cursed daughters. Then his life went to shit as he was forced to come back to the family estate and protect his freakish offspring from the rest of the world. My mother didn't particularly appreciate being ripped out of her world of ball gowns and glamour either. She made herself a new project. She may have had two demon children but they _were_ beautiful. She decided to make us perfect ladies, my guess was she planned to have us married to the highest ranking Zodiac she could sink her claws into. Or rather, my claws." Anju chuckled bitterly at the end. Her gold eyes seemed to glow eerily, her nails elongating to fine points.

"I didn't know there was any socialites in the Zodiacs." Kaida replied with a small smile.

Anju smirked, "Well, despite the setback of my birth my father is still an incredibly wealthy man. So, if it were not for what happened, I would be looking at a rather large inheritance. Haruka still is. Osamu owns the entire estate, Shun may be the son of a farmer but the land his family owns is nothing to be sniffed at. They supply most of the food here. Kira... I don't know if he still has anything like that..." Anju muttered.

Kyo raised an eyebrow, what did Anju mean by the rat still having anything like that? What happened to his wealth?

"You said you 'would be', what happened that you were written out of the will?" Kaida asked. Kyo felt a twinge of annoyance, he'd much rather know about Kira's situation.

Anju smirked. "Like I said, they wanted an angel. That's why they adore Haruka. When we were growing up Haruka and I used to get picked on by the other kids, the ones whose family was affected by the curse but they themselves were perfectly normal. Haruka always ignored them, just like our mother told her, but I couldn't just let it slide. I got into too many fights for her liking, started skipping etiquette classes to go to the dojo, we used to spends hours screaming at each other. It was a blessing, really, when she finally stopped talking to me."

"I used to fight with my mother as well. She didn't like me changing in front of my brother Raiden, said that I was dangerous."

Anju's brow furrowed. "How is a sea horse dangerous?"

"How indeed?" Kaida murmured, she cleared her throat. "What made her stop talking to you?"

Anju bit her lip, long shiny canines gently indented it. "One day, about a year and a half ago, Haruka didn't come home from school on time. I had been at the dojo and normally she got back before me, but not this time. So I figured I'd go look for her, check she hadn't gotten herself killed on the way home. I found _them_ in the forest."

Now Anju's cat ears were poking out of her hair and Kyo could sense the tension rolling off her in waves. Whatever story she was about to divulge it was not one she liked to think about.

"Some of those...disgusting..." Her breathing was heavy, "Some of the boys from the village, they had gotten a bright idea. Haruka was a dog, why not take her for a walk? They had a _leash_ and everything. And they were practically choking her with it."

Kaida's eyes widened but she didn't dare interrupt.

"I lost it. I changed and they screamed. Idiots didn't seem to realise just how scary a tiger could be. I don't remember much of what had happened, all I know is that two of the boys ended up in the hospital, the other one had managed to climb up a tree to safety, funny, because I could easily have gotten him too. Apparently I was reluctant to leave Haruka's side."

"But...why would your mother stop speaking to you for that? You saved your sister."

"According to her I should have shown some decorum, I should have merely frightened them, threatened them, that I should never have shown my _ugly_ other form. And Haruka agreed, loyal bitch."

Kaida could think of no response but she didn't need to, Anju had opened the flood gates, the words flowed out of her now.

"I lasted six months with them until I couldn't stand their presence anymore. My mother's judging stare, Haruka's begging for me to talk to her, my father's grumblings about stress, I couldn't take it anymore. I ran away from home, straight into the arms of Osamu. And I haven't looked back since."

"But...surely you and Haruka have spoken since then, I mean you go to school together."

Anju shook her head. "Haruka only recently started going to that school, the last day she came I ran the hell out of there. Today was first time I stayed for more than five seconds in her presence in over a year."

Kaida breathed out a noise of disbelief. "My mother treated me like the bane of her existence at times, does anyone here have parents who actually care about them?"

Anju pursed her lips as she pondered the questions. "Generally parents reject their children or they learn to live with the curse. Kuya's and Sonomi's parents are dead but they had loved them very much. Same goes for Hisao's, his died in a car crash but his mother doted on him. Used to call him her little tabby cat. Tsukina's father was a bastard of the highest order, but he's dead too. Her mother is a bit out of it most of the time, but I guess she's nice enough. Shun's are still kicking as are Suki's . Kira's parents...well, to be honest I don't know a lot about them, only that they are not around. I'm pretty sure they abandoned him on Osamu's fathers doorstep, back when he was in charge."

"So, basically, we are a bunch of walking, talking, daddy issues."

Anju laughed. "Essentially. No one said being cursed was going to be fun."

"Really? But the word curse implies so much joy."

Anju snickered but a knock on their door silenced her.

"Who is it?" She demanded gruffly.

"It's me, kitty, can I come in?" A male voice asked from the other side. Kyo recognised it and chewed the inside of his cheek as he attempted to place it.

Anju scowled at the entrance but grasped the handle and swung it open.

"What do you want mule?" she asked, cocking her hip and flicking her blonde locks over her shoulder.

Shun lay casually against the door frame, his arms folded across his broad chest as he regarded Anju with searching eyes like storm clouds. His shaggy black hair hung in its usual disarray.

"I heard you talked to Haruka. You alright?"

"I wouldn't say we talked, more like she spoke in my general direction." Anju said in a relaxed voice, studying her nails.

"Well, did she say anything in your general direction that you wanna talk about?"

"Why would I want to do that?" Anju scoffed. "I'm fine."

"Really? Because your cat ears are sticking out."

Anju's cheeks pinked and she glanced up angrily at Shun. "It's none of your damn business." She spat.

Shun rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say kid." He muttered, his hand coming up to rustle her hair, which made Anju's cheeks go redder. She slapped his hand away roughly. Shun frowned and caught her wrist. He reached down and picked something up off the floor that Kaida could not see.

"Here, they clashed with the colour of my kimono." He told her with a half smile. He handed them to Anju and released her wrist.

"You'd look awful in a kimono anyway." Anju shot back.

"Now that is just not true. I would look wonderful in a kimono."

Anju made a noise of amusement. "Whatever lets you sleep at night. I really am fine so you can stop the whole knight in shining armour bullshit."

"That's funny because knights ride horses." Shun said in a dopey manner.

Anju's palm came up to her face. "Good bye Shun." She groaned, closing the door.

"Bye kitty, I'll see you next time you get new shoes." He called back as he left.

"The hell you will." Anju barked after him.

"He's kind of weird." Kaida noted.

"You have no idea."

.

The image in the pool swirled and morphed into one of Kaida lying on her bed. It was the middle of the night but her eyes were wide open. She ran a hand through her long red hair and sighed, changing positions so she was lying on her side.

"Insomnia?" Kyo asked.

The ghostly Kaida considered the question. "To an extent. I did sleep, I just wasn't particularly good at it."

As if to prove the point the living Kaida moaned and sat up abruptly. She swung her legs over the side of her bed, her traditional looking nightdress came to just past her knees however it had no sleeves. She walked to the door, grabbing a coat as she went.

She left the house behind and began to stroll along the path that wound around the estate. It was a clear night and the stars twinkled prettily back at her. She paused to look at them every now and then.

Suddenly there was a faint noise to her right and her head snapped in the direction of the sound. A small cloaked figure stood there, regarding her warily. In their arms was a stack of blankets and bedding.

"So-sorry Miss Sohma, I was just wondering if, maybe, you needed anything..."

Kaida narrowed her eyes at the form before recognition crossed her figures.

"Mura-san, right? You're the maid I met the first day I got here."

The girl's large eyes widened, something which seemed to add to the fragility of her face. She had very pixy like features, but her face held a sort of sweet delicacy. She was really very pretty.

"Yes, yes Miss Sohma."

"Didn't I tell you to call me Kaida? Seriously, I don't feel comfortable with being called Miss Sohma. Besides there is way too many Miss Sohmas running around here, don't you think?"

"I. Yes, apologises, Kaida-san."

Kaida smiled. "As to your earlier question, no I don't need anything. I was just having trouble sleeping, thought I would go for a walk."

"Perhaps you should go back to your room Miss- Kaida-san. It can be dangerous at night for a woman as important as yourself to be out at night."

Kaida chortled. "I'll be okay. I'm not as fragile as one may think. And what about you, _you_ are a woman and _you_ are alone at night."

Mura's mouth twitched. "I'm not of any major significance. I won't attract attention like you will."

"You'd be surprised about what attracts attention." Kaida replied smoothly. She sat down on the grass beside the path causing Mura to breath in sharply in alarm.

"Please, Miss, I mean, Kaida-san. It is damp, you will catch a cold."

"I don't get cold. Would you like to join me, you needn't sit down if you're afraid of getting sick."

Mura licked her lips, "I should probably be getting back to work. Perhaps another time."

"Sure, I'll be here." Kaida said, lying back on the grass and released a relaxing sigh.

Kyo watched as Kaida fell asleep right there. When she awoke, the sun was beginning to rise and someone had covered her with a blanket.


	14. Throwing Is a Form of Love

_**A/N: Woo, some of my exams are finished :D Although I still have all the major ones in June but I still have another few weeks before I have to completely neglect you guys, thanks for your patience, here we go chapter 14, as always please review!**_

_**Review Replies:**_

_**Irgoomer: I know, she's a little sweet heart. Thanks I'm glad the characters are interesting enough to keep you from getting bored :D**_

_**Guest: Oh NOES! Yup, but in a family of cursed people there was gonna be a few cropping up.**_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: Thanks! I was afraid people would find the whole past thing kind of boring so I'm glad you liked it, I'm trying to have a few different things happening but don't worry you will be seeing more of Mura in later chapters. She's my little sweetie.**_

_**So without further ado, here is chapter 14! **_

.

"Shall we skip ahead again? All that you would be missing is the tension of the twins and my occasional night time strollings with Mura."

Kyo shrugged, feigning disinterest. "I don't really care."

"Really? Alright, well we can stop if you want. I mean, you would be missing the time I hit the rat...not to mention finding out about his past."

He started and glanced at her with surprise. She chuckled at him.

"Oh honey, don't look so shocked. I saw how your face lit up with interest when Anju mentioned Kira's parents. You are _dying_ from curiosity, Kitty." Her eyes crinkled at her own joke.

Kyo let out a huff and crossed his arms across his chest. "Just get on with the damn story."

She chuckled warmly and the pool was swirling once more.

.

Kaida was sitting on her bed, stretching after waking up. Suddenly the bedroom door swung open and something thin flew through the air and slapped her in the face.

"Letter for you." Anju told her, her pretty features twisted into a mischievous smirk. Kaida scowled at her before glancing down to the white envelope. She breathed in sharply and Anju's grin dropped to a frown.

"What's wrong? You have something against post?"

"It's my grandfather's handwriting." She whispered, shaking fingers coming up to pry open the corners.

Anju raised an eyebrow. "You've been here for about three weeks. Is it really that surprising that they are writing to you, they are your family after all. And from what you said you get on well enough with your grandfather."

Kaida nodded but her teeth bit into her bottom lip. Kyo noted that her canines looked ever so slightly pointed, a dangerous thing for her to be allowing.

"Yeah, yes of course, you are right. I'm just worried, what if it's not good news?"

Anju rolled her eyes. "Isn't it a little early in the morning for such pessimism? Come on, stop being such a girl and open it."

Kaida gave her a bemused look. "But I am a girl."

"Doesn't mean you have to act like one. Now man up woman."

Kaida laughed and tore open the top. "You realise what you said is an oxymoron."

"Well if it takes a seemingly contradictory statement to get you off your ass I am more than willing to make them." Anju said flippantly with a wink.

Now it was Kaida's turn to do an eye roll as she pulled the letter out and opened it. Something rattled inside the envelope but she'd deal with that later. With a little apprehension she began to read it.

_Kaida, _

_I am sorry I could not have said this to you in person, I'd have liked to have been her for you on this special day. But I suppose we can't have everything we desire in life and I will just take solace in the hope that I will be there for one of the next ones. I hope you have settled into your new life, I know that it must be a lot for you to deal with. Sometimes I wonder if I should have told you more of our family, of the others who share in the curse. But I feared it would cause you more distress than peace. _

_But enough of an old man and his excuses. I have more important things to tell you, for example Raiden is currently tearing at my leg demanding that I ask you when you are coming home and if you have met any other dragons, I believe he wishes to have you married with children by the end of the month so he can have a pet baby dragon. He is a strange lad sometimes. _

_Ryu asks for you constantly, frankly if I didn't know that this insistent questioning was born out of concern I'd have bitten his head off. Not, perhaps, in quite the same way you would, but I digress. _

_Your parents worry but they are doing fine. Your mother helped me pick out your present. I hope you like it. Raiden wanted to give you a cross bow but I wasn't sure they would send that in the post. _

_Happy 17__th__ Birthday darling granddaughter. May you have many more to follow._

_With Love,_

_Your Grandfather._

_P.S Ryu did the engraving._

Kaida blinked back the tears she could feel springing up. With a tentative smile she looked inside the envelope and removed a long chain and a wooden plaque. Anju, who had been lying on her bed, glanced over to her in confusion but she ignored her.

The necklace was beautiful, a copper chain with a simple pendant of a scarlet jewel partially wrapped in golden metal, as though it was attempting to spread across it and engulf the stone entirely. She fingered the piece for a moment before turning her attention to the other gift.

Kyo didn't know whether to scoff or laugh his head off when he saw what Ryu had carved into the brown wood. It was surprisingly well done, natural artistic talent shining through. A dragon in mid flight, its wings spread wide, facing outward from the wood. This made up the backdrop and there was something distinctly menacing about its expression. In front of it was a sea horse, made of smooth lines with an innocent look in its eyes, as though it wouldn't hurt a fly.

The entire plaque was the size of her palm and Kaida breathed out an awkward snicker when she saw it. She flipped it over, there was a message.

_For Kaida,_

_The Sea Horse that bites._

She shook her head in amusement, Ryu, Kyo thought, was going to get her found out in no time with jokes like that.

"Pretty, what's the occasion?" Anju asked from Kaida's bedside. She had moved silently to her and Kyo was astonished once again by the fluidity of her movements.

Kaida didn't glance up to her, she continued to caress her gifts.

"I, I completely forgot. With everything going on I didn't notice the days go by." She murmured to herself before giving her head a little shake. Suddenly she glanced up to Anju like she was only remembering her presence.

"Sorry, it's for my birthday. I'm seventeen today."

Surprise flickered across Anju's beautiful features. "Why didn't you tell me?" She demanded.

"Like I said, I sort of forgot."

"That's not an excuse! Did you ever think that this was the kind of thing that I as your room mate would be interested in?! Dammit Kaida, don't be so selfish." Anju fumed causing Kaida to snicker in amusement.

"I'm very, very sorry Anju. Please forgive me."

"Maybe I don't want to."

"Please? It can be my birthday present." Kaida said chirpily.

Anju through her arms into the air in exasperation. "And that's the other thing, I don't have a present for you! You gave me no time to prepare!"

Anju stormed out of the room and Kaida glanced after her with a mildly concerned expression on her face.

"She can't actually be mad, can she?" Kaida wondered aloud before shrugging and getting dressed. Just as she was pulling on her t-shirt, albeit a little awkwardly, her back now had a pale pink scar lining across it but Kyo had a feeling it was probably a little stiff from inactivity, the door swung open loudly once more.

"Happy Birthday, you stupid little Sea Horse prat!" Anju shrieked and, for the second time that morning, she threw something at Kaida's face. Unfortunately for the dragon her reflexes decided to rear their ugly head again and she caught the object before it hit her. Anju's eyes narrowed at her but she made no comment as Kaida studied the soft mush that was now in her hand.

After a moment she looked up at Anju.

"Is this...a cake?"

Anju folded her arms and cocked her hip like she always did when she went on the defensive.

"Yeah, so what? It's your birthday, isn't it? Cake is kind of part of the deal."

Kaida poked the mush of sponge and icing with a finger.

"It looks...great." She noted.

"Well it's not my fault you completely destroyed it with your big man hands."

"My hands are in perfect proportion to my body. You just think they are big cause you are such a short ass." Kaida shot back in good humour. She poked the dead cake with a finger and scooped some of the icing sludge into her mouth. She made a noise of approval.

"It's really good."

Anju suddenly blanched as though she was embarrassed. "Yeah...well...good."

Kaida picked up a tissue and put the remaining cake onto it.

"Here. I brought a plate." Anju muttered, holding the crockery out like it offended her.

"Thanks." Kaida replied as she transferred the tissue to the plate.

"Alright, so, I'm going to hit the dojo before school. I'll see you later..." Anju turned to the door and began to leave. Kyo watched as Kaida looked at her with a frown before smiling and sprinting after her. She caught her in a bear hug and tucked her head onto the small blonde's shoulder.

"Thank you Anju."

Anju's cheeks pinked. "Oh calm down, no need to be so emotional. Besides, what are friends for?"

A small smile broke out onto Kaida's face.

"You going to let me go now, or do I have to make you?"

The red head laughed but released her captive who turned to her with a rueful look.

"You are a strange girl."

Anju chuckled a little. "I'll see you at school you weirdo." She added as she left.

Kaida smiled and went back to her cake.

.

Kaida and Anju were sitting at their desks in class. Anju was tapping a tune out against the table with her pencil while Kaida stared blankly at their teachers. They were doing some kind of maths problems but Kyo had a feeling that the students weren't taking anything in at all.

A white paper ball hit Kaida's cheek.

"Stop throwing things at me!" She shouted aloud in frustration. The class stared at her in shock. Embarrassed, her skin turned scarlet until it matched her hair. Anju's shoulders shook with silent laughter and Kaida shot her a murderous glare.

"Sorry, Sensei, please continue, I didn't mean to interrupt." She said calmly through gritted teeth.

The teacher shook his head but moved swiftly on, the rest of the class turning away as well.

"What was that about?" Anju whispered.

"You threw something at me, for the third time today!" Kaida shot back in a hushed tone.

Anju gave her a puzzled look. "I didn't throw anything at you."

Kaida's brows knitted together and she searched the surrounding area for the paper that had hit her. She spotted it on the floor by her feet and scooped it up. She hid it under the desk as she unravelled the scrunched up ball.

_Happy Birthday_

Her head shot up and she looked around wildly. Brown eyes met blue and she knew he was the one who sent it to her.

Hisao gave her a little nod before turning back to his studies.

.

The night of her seventeen birthday came and Kiada found herself staring blankly at the ceiling. Kyo could tell she was going to go for a walk so it proved no surprise when she sighed heavily and sat up. Throwing on her dressing gown she crept quietly from the confines of her room.

The night sky was clear and she walked underneath the darkness with her head tilted upwards. A small smile played along her lips but Kyo couldn't help but note that there was something distinctly sad about her expression.

"Not a bad night for a stroll is it?" A masculine voice asked. Kaida glanced over with a vaguely calm look, Kyo had a feeling she had sensed another presence.

"Hisao-san. I didn't expect to see you here."

The older boy shrugged, the moon light reflecting oddly off his grey striped hair. "Sometimes I go for walks at night, I don't usually go this far from my house, however."

"Oh? Where do you live?"

"Near the outskirts of the inner town." He said gruffly.

Kaida nodded. "I thought most of the Zodiacs lived in or around the main house."

"They do. But I'm not like _you_ people."

Kaida raised an eyebrow, "You people? Seems a little harsh, we're all cursed here. What does it matter what form we take, we all suffer together."

Hisao laughed bitterly. "Yeah, must be _real_ hard, living in the main house, having servants wait on you, hand and foot, everyone respecting you because you are the dragon and that means you must be some kind of genius or something ."

Anju scowled at him. "I don't get waited on hand and foot, I'm not some genius and in case you haven't noticed I didn't exactly choose to live in the main house in the first place."

"Sure, but you have the option, if I so much as breathed the suggestion of me moving up here to Osamu he'd have locked up for not knowing my place. You get to be free."

"Free? _Free_? Are you _freaking_ kidding me? I was _dragged_ here from _my_ home, away from _my_ family and _my_ best friend, with a bloody massive wound in my back to live with some people I have never met but that I know my great grandparents fled from and then I get _shoved_ into a bedroom with a psychotic tiger who has a tendency to _throw_ shit at my head to wake me up and all the while I have to pretend to be-" Kaida paused in her rant, Kyo had a feeling she was about to say _be normal. _Her eyes had turned gold and he could see the tips of milky white canines just starting to elongate.

"Be...be happy, when really, today of all days especially, I just miss my life." Kaida's voice quietened as she finished speaking. Hisao stared at her in shock, not expecting to be rebuffed quite so viciously.

"I, sorry, I forgot that you don't exactly want to be here either." He said awkwardly.

She sighed and ran a hand through her long ruby hair. "No, it's alright, sorry for shouting at you. And thanks for the note, by the way... How did hear about my birthday?"

"I saw Anju this morning breaking into the kitchens to get cake. She was muttering something about inconsiderate sea horses not giving people notice."

Kaida grinned and let out a chuckle. "Yeah, she was none too happy with me this morning."

"I got that. So how old are you?"

"Seventeen. Getting decrepit."

"Hey! I'm older than you!"

"Which makes you completely ancient. How's the hip, would you like to sit down?"Kaida said with a mockingly worried expression.

Hisao smirked. "Actually I think I'd prefer a bed. Goodnight Kaida."

Kaida bit back a smile. "Goodnight Hisao-kun."


	15. A Stroll Through the Woods

_**A/N: Hey so, this chapter is a little shorter than usual but I have my reasons which I'm sure you will understand soon enough. Don't worry I plan on having another one up later in the week.**_

_**Review Replies:**_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: Thank you, you are simply too nice to me :) He has a little bit of a moment at the start of this chapter but I'll say no more. As for assaulting the rat, you and me both! I can't wait to write that particular bit. Until then you'll just have to make do with this chapter ;)**_

_**ProtagonistOfLife: Yup, he is indeed. Don't worry, I have trouble keeping everyone straight and I'm writing them! **_

_**Irgoomer: Haha, Aw don't worry, I'm the same age as Hisao so I'm getting the blunt end of the stick too. Happy Month-Early Birthday :P**_

_**Anonymusblader123: Thank you! And thanks for all the favouriting, following and reviewing you did. Don't worry, I won't leave you guys hanging with this story :)**_

_**And so, on to the chapter :) Please review, as always;**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

"Wait...when you said you knew the cat...?" Kyo said slowly, looking at Kaida with realisation in his eyes. She laughed.

"Nosy, nosy. We're just friends at the moment, and I won't be telling you any spoilers about my past. You will just have to wait and see." Kaida told him with a wink causing him to let out a huff and lie back against the cave wall.

"Patience isn't one of your virtues, is it?"

Kyo just glared at her before staring pointedly at the pool. She smirked and waved her hand over it with an easy grin. It swirled and churned to reveal Kaida with a note in her hand. She was frowning a little as she absorbed the contents.

_Kaida,_

_Meet me in the woods at noon. _

_Anju_

Kaida pouted as she seemingly mused over the strange orders she had been left. With a shrug she checked the old clock that hung on their bedroom wall. It said that it was half eleven. She let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

"You'd think after a month of being here I'd be used to her doing weird stuff like this." She muttered under her breath.

After tucking the piece of paper in her pocket she walked gracefully from the room, not needing to hide her fluid movements from curious stares at the moment. Once she exited her bedroom Kyo saw how she changed her gait, causing it to become a little more awkward and clumsy. It was a little forced but only if you thought to check for acting.

As she paced towards the woods she paused as Mura crossed her path holding a basket piled high with fruit and other assorted food.

"Morning Mura."

"Hello Kaida-san." She bowed awkwardly and Kaida sighed.

"Could you please refrain from bowing every time you see me? It makes me a little uncomfortable." Kaida requested in a tired tone.

"But it would be inappropriate for me not to, Kaida-san." Mura protested coolly.

Kaida bit her lip but shrugged, Kyo had a feeling she was just grateful she had stopped calling her Miss Sohma.

"Alright, but can you at least stop when we're alone, like when we walk at night? Consider that time as you off the clock, what do you say?"

Mura mimicked Kaida's previous reaction but nodded. "If you wish, Kaida-san." She conceded.

Kaida grinned at her. "Great, one more thing, you didn't happen to see Anju going into the woods earlier, did you?"

"Yes, Miss Sohma went in around an hour ago. She seemed to be carrying something, although I cannot recall what it was."

"Thank you, did you see what part of the woods she was heading towards?"

"I'm afraid not Kaida-san. I believe she entered through the east section though."

Kaida smiled, "Thank you Mura. I'll see you tonight, no doubt."

"Yes, Kaida-san. I look forward to it."

Kaida strode away, pulling her long hair over her shoulder, her fingers toying with the ends. She weaved her way through the crowds of the lower town and finally out the gates entirely. She was still on Sohma land but when she stopped for a moment and glanced to the sky, Kyo could guess what she was thinking.

How easy it would be to just change and leave, fly away, never look back, never be controlled again...

She bit her lip and her teeth began to indent it in anticipation of her changing. For a moment Kyo thought that she would do it, that she would run.

But then she gave her head a small shake and headed into the woods, looking for Anju.

She has no reason to go, not yet at least.

.

Kaida took a deep breath of the clean woody air. Her eyes sparkled with a kind of eagerness as she felt the forest wash over, just as it did in her old home. She scanned her surrounding as she began to walk through the undergrowth, snapping twigs and rustling leaves as she went.

"Anju. Hey, Anju, where are you?" She called, her hands coming up to cup her mouth and amplify her voice.

"Oi! Anju! Come on, I know you can hear me, you have that whole heightened senses thing going for you."

Now she stood amongst a deep canopy of woodland, completely blocked in. She pursed her mouth to the side and placed her hands on her hips.

"Seriously? Are you attempting to frighten me?" Kaida asked in a bored tone. She got no response except the rustle of trees.

A rustle with no wind.

Kaida turned sharply on her heel just in time to dodge the wooden staff that had been flung at her. It embedded itself into the ground at an angle.

"What the hell?" She hissed as another followed the first, causing her to dart to the side. Another came and another, each one getting closer than the last to its mark, Kaida's chest.

"Who are you?" She demanded as she leapt upwards and grasped an overhanging branch. She pulled herself into the tree and sat in it, her talons digging deeply into the bark.

No reply, only another projectile. This one was a spear.

Kaida shrieked and fell to the ground to avoid the deadly weapon, rolling as she landed.

"Why are you doing this?" She howled at her assailant, the words came out awkwardly behind her fanged teeth. She was losing control. It would not be long before she turned.

"I don't know who you are, but trust me it's in your best interest to back the hell off!" She shouted.

There was a silence and Kaida's glowing eyes narrowed as she attempted to perceive a figure camouflaged in the green leaves.

Another moment passed. And then a knife came whistling through the air, its point heading straight for her throat.

She fell to the ground again and let out an animalistic snarl.

"Fine!" She screeched. She bent into a crouch and pushed herself into the tree above her. As quick as her limbs would allow she began to swing from branch to branch, getting higher and higher, moving from tree to tree.

She could hear uneasy breathing as her attacker searched for her, she calmed her own heart and focused in on the sound.

There.

Kyo watched in awe as she growled and leapt from the bough. She sailed through the air and crashed into the body that sat hidden in a bushel of leaves. They fell to the ground in an entangled heap, Kaida holding the other down.

Her claws dug into their shoulders and her suddenly bulging muscles held her now prisoner in a vice like grip. Her red hair hung in messy curls around her face, golden eyes and her canines came down to her chin making her look like some kind of monstrous mythological creature.

She snarled into the face of her prey before freezing in shock.

Anju looked up at her with wide yellow eyes. After a moment the shock left her beautiful face and her leg hitched around Kaida's slim waist. She flipped her over and the tiger removed herself from the older girl's gripe.

"Month is up." She stated.


	16. Breaking Trees

_**A/N: Okay, so a little later than I intended but hey, better late than never and all that, please review and please enjoy :) **_

_**Review Replies:**_

_**Anonymusblader123 and her OC Kitsune: Thank you, I appreciate you making an exception for little ol' me :) Hope you keep enjoying the story.**_

_**Protagonist Of Life: Dramatic Music Time! Glad I got you excited in reading more, thanks for reviewing :)**_

_**Irgoomer: Yup, he would not be a happy camper, no problem even if I am a little early :)**_

_**Without further ado here is chapter 16:**_

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"Anju? What do you think you're playing at?" Kaida demanded, retreating from the other girl in an attempt to hide her half changed form.

"I gave you a month to tell me what was going on with you, you haven't told me." Anju stated simply, her eyes scanning Kaida's face which she quickly covered with her red hair.

"So you decided to attack me?! What kind of warped logic is that?!" Kaida exclaimed, slowly moving behind the safety of a tree.

"Relax, I never hit you. I just wanted to test your reflexes- Hey! Where are you going?!" Anju screeched as Kaida darted into a thicker part of the forest.

"Away from you, you're insane!" Kaida called back, fear evident in her brown-gold eyes. Her pupils became round once more instead of slits but neither her talons nor her canines retracted.

"And you're a dragon!" Anju retorted. Kaida stopped instantly.

"Why are you saying that like its news?" Kaida said back lightly, her breathing controlled.

"I think we both know that I mean it in a more traditional sense." The tiger chortled.

"Oh, and what do you mean by more traditional?" Kaida replied with disinterest.

"I was thinking along the lines of scales, fire breathing..." Her voice trailed off and Kyo realised with a shock that he had no idea where Anju was talking from. She had disappeared among the trees again. Kaida seemed to be thinking the same thing as she glanced wildly around. Suddenly there was a whoosh of wind behind her and a cool blade was pressed to her throat.

"Wings, perhaps." Anju finished in her ear.

Kaida swallowed, causing the knife to graze over her skin. "You are completely nuts." She whispered.

Anju continued as though she had not spoken. "Is that why your mother hated you? Because you turned into a monster." She asked lightly, a cruel edge to her tone.

"Don't bring up my mother." Kaida growled.

"Why shouldn't I? Especially if you are a measly little sea horse like you claim, you are too pathetically weak to stop me. Although I got to admit I'm still sceptical, is that how you screwed up your back, did you fall? Or did your parents try to tear your wings off?"

Kaida pushed at her, anger beginning to flare on her face. She set her jaw in determination. "It's not going to work, I'm not going to let you goad me."

Anju snickered, changing the angle of the blade so now Kaida was forced to turn her face skyward.

"Is that so? But I'm just saying what everybody is thinking. We are all wondering what is wrong with you, you know, the rest of us Zodiacs. Who is the freak that needs me to babysit her? The one who can't fight, the one who doesn't change. I guess that's why they put you with me, in case you turn into a monster and try to rip all our heads off. They probably were hoping I'd be able to kill you."

"You could try." The words were out before Kaida could stop them. Kyo breathed in sharply, she shouldn't have said that.

"Maybe I will. You are a disgusting beast, an anomaly, a monster..." Anju leaned in closer.

"...a freak among freaks. No one wants you. You are just a reminder of everything we've been trying so desperately to get away from. No wonder your family sent you here, they're probably afraid you'd eat your brother."

"Shut up." Kaida commanded. There was no denying her rage now, her skin was rough and tinged red.

"Ew, touched a soft spot did I? Don't tell me you actually tried to eat the little runt. Or was it something else, did you try to kill him? Maybe get him out of the picture?"

"Shut. Up."

"That was it, wasn't it? You tried to kill him, let me guess, you wanted Mommy and Daddy to notice you so you attempted to off him. Do you even care about him at all? Do monsters like you even feel?"

"I said shut up!" Kaida screamed, yanking the hand with the knife from her throat and crushing the wrist. Anju howled in agony and fell to the ground. Kaida kicked away from her, snarling as she did what she had promised never to do in her time at the Sohma residence.

Skin to scales, nails to talons, back to wings, teeth to jaws.

Anju stared with wide eyes as a large crimson dragon glared down at her. She cradled her arm to her chest and breathed heavily, sweat trickling down her temple. Trees in the area had fallen to accommodate Kaida's massive bulk. Kyo wondered if the noise of them breaking down had attracted anymore unwanted direction.

Slowly Kaida's immense chest began to rise and fall more slowly as her and Anju regarded one another. Anju tilted her head to the side and, cautiously she rose from the forest earth and smiled.

"Hello beautiful, took your bloody time about it didn't you?" She said grinning.

Kaida looked taken aback, her course face scrunching up in suspicion and surprise.

"And you said I couldn't goad you." Anju reminded her before glancing down. She prodded her injury and swore. "That being said you really did a number on my wrist."

"You deserved it." Kaida retorted, her voice only slightly gruffer than usual.

Anju pursed her lips and nodded. "True enough, and I'd do it again. It's worth it to see finally get to see you like this. Sorry about before, didn't mean to get so bitchy but frankly you didn't give me a whole lot of choice."

Kaida frowned at her. "Why should I believe that you're not only saying sorry to save your own skin now?"

Anju chuckled. "Because I'd rather die than take back something I meant. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little stubborn, but you are too."

Kyo could see the glow off Kaida's eyes begin to dull, she was starting to turn back.

"Unless you're hoping to trick me, kill the monster once she turns back?" Kaida accused, taking a step towards Anju who didn't seem intimidated in the least.

"Why the hell would I do that? Then who would entertain me? Besides, I don't think you're a monster, I'm just curious about you."

Kaida narrowed her eyes at her. "Curious?"

"Well obviously, you are the first actual dragon-dragon in generations! Of course I want to know why, although, to be honest what I am really interested in is why are you pretending to be a stupid little sea horse when you are a flying freaking dragon."

Kaida looked away. She didn't speak for a while, Kyo thought it looked as though her scales were fading in colour. Anju may have noticed as well by the way she was looking at Kaida with slight confusion.

"I don't know why I am like this, my, my grandfather believes that it could be because my great grandfather and grandmother fled from this place in their youth. They were trying to escape the curse that they themselves were affected by. But it may have had the opposite effect. My curse was stronger, much stronger than anyone else's."

Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and Kaida was sitting on the ground her knees up to her chest.

"When I got here Osamu ordered me not to reveal this form. He said it would cause people to panic, I suppose he thought I would frighten people." Kaida said the words plainly.

Anju considered her words with a stoic expression. Without saying a thing she moved over to one of the broken trees. She rummaged through the braches before pulling a large rucksack from its depths. She brought it back over and yanked out a blanket and a set of clothes. Anju strolled back over to Kaida and dumped them on top of her head.

"I don't find you frightening. I think you are pretty damn cool." Anju told her with a smile.

Kaida glanced back at her under the clothing. "Thanks."

"No problem, now cover your shame and let's go home."

After Kaida was dressed the pair walked back to the house in an awkward silence. As they approached the gates Kaida asked a question.

"What about the trees? Won't someone notice that they've all fallen over?"

"I'll say I did it, it'll explain the broken wrist at any rate." Anju replied calmly.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Kaida told her looking down at the angry purple handprint on Anju's arm.

"I've had worse. Although the shape of this one is a bit of an issue." Anju considered. Suddenly, before Kaida could so much as blink, Anju smacked it roughly against the gate causing a loud thump to resonate throughout the area. Anju yelped and swore as she danced on the spot.

"Why the hell did you that?" Kaida demanded.

"Same reason I did this." Anju replied, whacking her arm again against the wall again. This time she hissed and tears ran down her cheeks.

"Stop it!"

"I can't. The bruise still looks like a hand." Anju muttered, taking a deep breath and bashing her wrist one final time. The pain caused her legs to crumble from underneath her. She retched a little but quickly composed herself. She lifted the now red, raw and horribly swollen limb.

"That'll do it, don't you think?"

"What is wrong with you?" Kaida asked, lifting her up and pulling her uninjured arm around her shoulders.

"I'm not letting you get caught because of me. If Osamu finds out I know he'll do much worse to you."

"Why, does he have a history of that?" Kaida asked as they began to walk through the lower town. Hushed whispers followed them as people gawked at the two high born Sohmas that were in such an unusual state. Anju was hanging off of Kaida cradling a grotesque looking wrist, the taller red headed girl had a large and stuffed backpack on her back. Inside was an assortment of weaponry, most of which Anju had attempted to throw at her earlier.

"You could say that. When I first came here after running from home he made me swear to never return there, that I belonged to him now. He made me promise it, and there is no going back on your word if you give it to The God."

"What happens if you disobey an order?"

"That's the thing, we can't, not really. When it comes to him we don't have free will. If he truly commands us not to do something we are physically incapable of doing it. You know Eri?"

"Is that Osamu's secretary? The one with the strange hair?"

"The Ox, yeah. Well he used to be a bit more rebellious in his youth, from what I hear. Always running off and getting into trouble, especially if the local village girls were involved. Then one day Osamu summoned him and now he never leaves the main house. He never smiles, he never speaks unless he has to. It's like he was ordered to stop being him."

Kaida's jaw tightened in discomfort. "But he told me not to change in front of anyone and I just did."

"If he did not say it with the right conviction you can usually get out of obeying him. But he always says the important things without any loopholes. That's why you can't tell him that I know, you don't want to be confined to the house for the rest of your life."

Kaida nodded as they entered the inner town. Just as they passed the gate there was an alarmed shout.

"Anju!" Someone called in worry. They turned to see Shun running towards them, his brow furrowed at the sight of Anju holding on to Kaida.

"What the hell happened to you kitty?" He demanded, grasping her wrist. She winced.

"I was training. Turns out I can't defy gravity." She answered.

Shun scowled and looked at her incredulously. "Were you trying to fly?"

"No, you stupid mule, I fell out of a bloody tree. Then I may have gotten my revenge on the tree."

"And how, kitten, does one get vengeance on a tree?" He asked with amusement as he examined the injury with expert fingers.

"You kill it's friends and make it watch." Anju told him, grunting in discomfort as he prodded a particularly sensitive spot.

"Are you trying to tell me you knocked over a bunch of trees with a broken wrist?" He questioned.

"Kaida helped." Anju stated.

"Only because you refused to stop until all of the nearby flora was dead." Kaida muttered, playing along smoothly.

Shun glanced at the two of them. "You two are weird. Come on fluffy, I'm bringing you to the infirmary." He scooped her up.

"I don't need you to carry me, my legs are working perfectly fine!" Anju complained.

"Don't care. Why were you two in the forest anyway?" Shun inquired as they approached the main house.

"Kaida needed training and we didn't want to bump into Kira."

"Oh, and how'd she do? Is the dragon any good?" Shun looked at Kaida with a teasing smirk.

Anju caught Kaida's eye and winked at her.

"No. She's not very impressive at all."


	17. Attacking Pavements

_**A/N: Phew, this chapter was hard to get out, I've had one hell of a busy week. Next week is my last week in school ever so things have been getting a little bit crazy here. Thankfully I have succeeded in salvaging some time for writing. So please enjoy and please, please, review.**_

_**Review Replies:**_

_**The Sakura Trees: I'm afraid the name is just a happy coincidence I only realised the connection myself after I had already published the chapter :) Thanks for reading the whole story so quick and deciding to stick with it, I really appreciate the feedback and I hope you keep enjoying the story :) **_

_**Irgoomer: I know, Anju is a sweet heart once you get past all the anger and the fighting and the violence...you know...under all of that... I swear... :)**_

_**Natalie Potter The Time Lady: First of all, cool name, second of all, and guessing by your name you will appreciate this, spoilers ;)**_

_**Guest: And I love you for reviewing**_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: Yeah she is my little badass. I am too, he is a dangerous guy. Thanks for reviewing, I'll do my best to keep you happy with this story!**_

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_**So without further ado here is chapter 17:**_

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"So, you finally let Anju in on the loop."

"Yup, she was my own little confidant. Now, let's skip ahead. I'm thinking two weeks later. You ready to meet someone new?"

Kyo groaned and knocked his head back. "Do I have to? I can barely keep up with the ones you've shown me already!"

Kaida chuckled, "Don't worry this is the first time I'll be meeting this girl too. She was mentioned earlier although I doubt you remember, we have been at this for a while."

Kyo nodded and glanced out to the mouth of the cave where the sun had begun to set. Soon they would be in darkness.

"Em...Is this going to work, it's going to get pretty dark soon." He pointed out only to have Kaida chortle beside him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash and when he turned to look at her there was a flame flickering strongly in her open palm. With the fingers of her other hand she gently caressed the blaze, the tendrils dancing under her touch.

"How...?" He asked in confusion. She smiled and winked at him, making a fist with her hand to extinguish the fire.

"Dragon." She reminded him.

"But you're dead! You're a freaking ghost for crying out loud!" He yelled at her exasperated.

"I'm the Dragon." She stated simply, snapping her fingers to summon a new flame. This time she allowed it to grow until it moved up her arm, clocking half her form in the blaze. Kyo saw no sign of discomfort on her features and he felt his body ease at the warmth. That being said he still edged cautiously away from her.

"Don't worry little Kitty, it's ghost fire, I control how hot it burns, and who it burns for that matter."

Kyo nodded. "Right, well how about you don't get too close to me anyway, just to be safe."

She laughed. "Suit yourself, shall we continue?"

"Might as well." He muttered.

She snickered and the pool began to swirl.

.

Kaida and Anju were staring at each other, a look of sheer concentration on both their faces. They glared into one another's' eyes, fierce sparks seemed to flash off of their brown and golden orbs.

"Give up." Anju spat.

"Never. I will never break." Kaida hissed back at her.

Suddenly there was a knock at their bedroom door although neither girl moved from their spot on each of their own beds. Slowly it swung open to reveal Hisao standing in the entryway. He looked at them in confusion.

"What in Osamu's name are you two playing at?" He demanded.

Kaida inclined her head towards him but not enough to break eye contact.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Why are you here?" She asked not unkindly.

"Sensei sent me up, he was wondering why you two haven't shown up to class yet seeing how it started ten minutes ago." He replied in an irritated tone.

Kaida started and glanced at him in shock. "What?! What time is it?" She questioned, her eyes darting to the clock.

"Yes! I win!" Anju cheered. She pumped her arms into the air, a triumphant smile on her face.

"No fair, I was distracted!" Kaida complained.

"Only losers make excuses, Kaida." Anju drawled.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Hisao demanded.

"Staring contest, thanks for the help by the way Hisao." Anju told him with a wink.

"Yeah thanks a lot you mangy alley cat." Kaida muttered.

"Did you say we were late for class?" Anju asked, snapping out of her euphoria over her victory.

"Yeah you are. Now hurry your asses up, I'm not going to miss more of my education on your accounts." He snapped, clearly annoyed. He turned on his heel and slammed the door shut behind him.

"Drama Queen." Anju said. She looked to Kaida, "Come on, we better hurry up before Hisao gets sent looking for us again."

Kaida nodded and they left the room.

As they ventured outside of the main house the sun glared mercilessly down on them. It was the end of summer and it seemed that the sun was determined to burn their skin as much as possible. Anju walked on unfazed but Kaida defended her eyes with a lifted arm. Unfortunately this hindered her vision and Kyo winced when she suddenly tripped and fell face first on to the path.

"Ow!" Kaida complained, rubbing her chin. She sat up on the stone walkway and her face twisted in a scowl as she pulled her ankle towards her. She prodded it with experimental fingers and hissed as she felt what Kyo presumed to be a quickly growing bruise.

"Suki, what are you playing at? What are you doing on the ground?" Anju asked in an exasperated tone. Kaida glanced at her in confusion before following the blonde's line of sight. There, her upper body lying flat against the grass adjacent to the path with her legs strewn across the lane, was a young woman. From the looks of things she was the one that Kaida had fallen over.

The young woman, Suki presumably, glanced up to them with a dreamy look in her royal blue eye. She was almost elfin in the delicacy of her features, a straight long nose with shockingly high cheekbones. She brushed her brown locks from her vision, a woven bracelet encircling her left wrist.

"Oh hello Anju, I'm sorry I didn't see you there. Whose your friend? Is this the dragon?" Suki asked as she moved on to her hunches, her hip length hair threatening to hit the ground as she did.

"Yeah she is, Kaida, Suki, Suki, Kaida. Dragon, rabbit, rabbit, dragon." Anju introduced quickly. Kaida shifted forward and did her best to bow in greeting.

"Nice to meet you."

Suki smiled sweetly. "Likewise."

"Now that the introductions are out of the way can you please tell me what the hell you are doing?" Anju questioned again, helping Kaida to her feet as she did.

Suki glanced back to the grass. "There was a mouse, I thought it might have been Kira but it was too small to be the Rat."

"Right, well good to know that twat isn't lurking around here." Anju considered.

"At least not where we can see him." Kaida amended. "What happened to the mouse?" She said to Suki out of politeness.

Suki shrugged. "He left some time ago. I thought I might enjoy the sun before father returned from teaching. Although, perhaps I have not chosen the best spot." She thought, taking in her surroundings.

"You think?" Anju mumbled.

"Not that this wasn't fun but myself and Kaida had best be off. We'll see you later Suki." She added, turning to leave.

"Alright, it was nice meeting you Dragon." Suki said, her eyes already shifting back to the grass.

"Yeah, same here." Kaida responded, following Anju with a limp.

.

After they were some distance away Kaida spoke.

"She seems...nice."

Anju chuckled. "That's one word for it. Completely and utterly ditsy is another. Twenty three years old and she acts like she's about five."

Kaida smirked. "Has she always been like that?"

"Pretty much, she's had a very sheltered life. Her parents adore her but they are also fiercely protective over her. I only met her for the first time a couple years back. The only ones who really knew her before that were Shun and Osamu."

"Why did Shun know her?"

"They're neighbours. Grew up together from what I can tell." Anju said flippantly. Just then they arrived at the school building. They entered and the room went quite as they interrupted class.

"Sorry we're late. Kaida got into a fight on the way here." Anju explained, taking her seat.

Sensei raised an eyebrow at them in amusement.

"I see she has the war wounds to prove it. I hope that her opponent has fared worse." He said in a cool voice.

Kaida pulled a face and her fingers rose to poke her grazed chin. Kyo studied her, other than the limping ankle and the bloody cut there was little injury to speak of. She walked slowly over to her seat and sat down beside the grinning tiger.

"Hard to say, sir, it was, after all, the ground." Anju replied casually.

Sensei laughed at the pair of them. "Will you survive the class, Kaida?"

"I'll try my best, sensei. I don't think my injuries will be fatal for another while."

"Yes, well if at any point you believe yourself to be on the brink of death please kindly remove yourself from the classroom before departing this earthly realm."

"But of course Sensei." Kaida agreed.

With a nod their teacher went back to work and Kaida and Anju's eyes glazed over accordingly.

.

"You going to the dojo?" Kaida asked when Anju suddenly moved in a different direction to the main house.

"Yeah, I have fitness training today." Anju replied. She paused for a moment,

"You want to come?"

Kaida pursed her lips. "You mean to train?"

"Yeah why not? Your back is healed now, you might as well learn how to defend yourself, even if it is from your own two left feet."

"I do not have two left feet." Kaida retorted. Anju snorted.

"You do realise you fell on your ass _this_ _morning_."

"Actually I think you'll find I fell on my face." Kaida retorted but she conceded to walk to the dojo with Anju.

"Besides, I think we both know I don't need any martial arts to defend myself." Kaida said, flashing Anju a brilliant smile.

Anju nodded. "True, but it's probably best you don't put on your wings every time someone annoys you. Also Osamu will have your scaly head if anyone else figures out that you are a little bit too strong and quick for a seahorse. Not to mention if you change in front of them."

Kaida groaned but agreed. "You're right, unfortunately. Fine I'll come but I'm only watching today, my ankle is sore."

"I always am dear, I always am, alright but once you're back on your worryingly unbalanced feet I'm whipping your ass into shape."

"I can't wait." Kaida muttered.

.

"So do you become a badass martial arts master?" Kyo asked excitedly.

Kaida frowned at him. "I breathe fire and have the strength of a one ton mythical creature. Is that not badass enough for you?"

"I take it that's a no." Kyo said with a disappointed sigh. Kaida growled and poked him with a fiery finger causing him to jump in fear. However to his surprise the flame did not harm him.

"What did I tell you about ghost fire? Trust me sweet heart you are relatively safe with me." She told him with a wink.

"Relatively safe?"

"Well, yeah. I am a mentally unstable poltergeist."

"Seriously?" Kyo demanded, his hackles rising.

"The voices are telling me that I should say no but I think it's mean to lie." Kaida told him, her face expressionless.

"Quit playing around!"

"What's that Timmy? You want me to kill him?" Kaida inclined her head as though some invisible person was speaking to her.

"I said cut it out!" Kyo complained.

Kaida chuckled. "Suit yourself kitty. Shall we continue? I say we fast forward a couple of weeks."

.

Kaida was doubled over, her hands on her waist, her breathing was fast and shallow.

"Wuss." Anju teased, a sheen of sweat on her brow.

"Shut. Up" Kaida splutered. They were in the dojo, Kyo guessed that they had been training.

"Come on, what's a few dozen laps to the great Dragon." Anju said with a snicker.

"I hate your guts." Kaida moaned, straightening slowly.

"We all do. Frankly I don't know why we keep her around. Especially considering there is always the danger she'll try to eat the villagers."

Anju's brow furrowed in anger. There in doorway in all his usual arrogance was Kira.

"What are you doing here vermin?" She spat, slowly moving between Kaida and the Rat. Kira noticed the movement and laughed.

"Are you afraid I'm going to hurt your little pet? Don't worry, unlike you I don't eat seafood."

"Get lost, Kira."

"Hmmm, tempting but no, I think I'll stick around. I haven't gotten to speak to our little dragon here for some time." He strode towards Kaida confidently who stared at him with a bored expression on her face.

"How's training going?" He asked, starting to walk around her in a circle.

"Fine."

"Fancy practicing?"

"Leave her alone Kira, she's only begun to train." Anju warned.

Kira smirked. "I haven't touched her..." He held up a finger and brought it to Kaida's cheek.

"...Yet."

Anju pounced and grasped his finger in her fist. He snickered and quickly grabbed her wrist, twisting it and bringing it into a hold behind her back.

"Careful Tiggy, a stunt like that can get you in trouble. You're lucky I'm not in the mood to play with you." He murmured in her ear.

"You're lucky you're the rat." Anju snapped.

Kira's jaw clenched but he quickly disguised it with a grin. "Jealousy doesn't suit you." He told her before letting her go.

"Until we meet again." He said from the exit with bow.

"Ass." Anju snarled when he left.

"What did you mean he's lucky he's the rat?" Kaida asked.

Anju ran a hand through her hair. "He outranks me, basically. The Rat tends to have many special talents and abilities. Because of this they often hold high up positions in this family. Kira's parents may have abandoned him but Osamu didn't. He's Osamu's favourite. In other words, as much as I'd like to, I can't cause him any real bodily harm."

Kaida rolled her eyes. "Figures."

"Come on, we have more training to do." Anju said.

"Uuuhhhh." Kaida moaned in response.

.

_**Sorry, I know this is a bit of a filler but trust me it's necessary filler :) Something important will be happening in the next chapter so stay tuned! I'll get it up as soon as I can.**_

_**Please Review.**_


	18. Declaration of War

_**A/N: Sorry for the delay but in my defence I did graduate on Monday :) and I have exams, 'cause in Ireland we have our 'finals' after we graduate, starting in two weeks, so I'm going to get this out as often as I can for you guys but please bear with me for the next month, after that I'm all yours.**_

_**Anonymusblader123 (and Kitsune): Yay! I feel honoured to evoke emotions in you, Kitsune, and I'm glad you're not dead. Thank you for saying my story is awesome, because you are awesome, and anonymusblader123 is awesome! This is kind of coming out right...**_

_**The sakura trees: Thanks, glad that you liked that chapter, I was afraid people would hate it because there wasn't a whole lot going on. Hope you like this one too!**_

_**Irgoomer: Thanks! I'm always worried about doing filler chapters because I don't want to bore people, so I'm glad you enjoyed it :) **_

_**Protagonist of Life: He is. He truly, truly, is. I am tempted to make a house drop on him whenever I'm writing.**_

_**Stephanie: Not too long to go. Trust me I am really looking forward to writing that particular scene. Kaida has to keep her cool for a little while longer, have to keep Osamu happy after all.**_

_**Kuryami: Thanks, and thanks for all the favourites and follows! It was lovely surprise to see all those emails when I woke up, I felt so loved :) **_

_**So without further ado, here is chapter 18,**_

_**As always, please review,**_

.

"One, two, three, block!" Anju called out, pacing around Kaida as she checked her form. Kyo recognised the stance the tall red head had taken as one his own Sensei had thought him. Her gait was wide and slightly bent at the knees, her arms coming up crossed in front of her face as a staff lightly swung upon them. With mild surprise Kyo noted that it was Hisao who was holding the wooden weapon. Evidently Anju had recruited him in the project of teaching Kaida martial arts.

"Good but slow. Again. One, two, th-Now!" Anju suddenly shouted, Hisao swinging accordingly. Kaida faltered for a moment but brought her wrists up. She didn't get enough strength in the block and Hisao broke through it. She twisted her head to the side to stop it from hitting her head but instead it smacked her shoulder. Kaida grunted a little in discomfort but it seemed the Cat didn't put enough force behind it to hurt her.

"Too slow, dragon. Have to be quicker than that." Anju teased her. Hisao frowned.

"I thought she was." He said with a sceptical look. Anju glanced at him in surprise but fixed a grin on her face.

"She has her moments of not being awful, but they are pretty rare." Anju conceded.

"You two do realise I am still in the room, don't you?" Kaida muttered irritably.

"Yeah, but we just don't care." Anju said simply. Hisao chuckled and placed the staff leisurely across his shoulders.

"Are we going to keep doing defensive moves or should we move on to attacks?" Hisao asked.

Anju smiled, "What's the matter, Hisao, don't like hitting a girl?"

"You know what, not really. But you don't count so it's okay." Hisao replied curtly, a smirk on his face.

Anju growled at him before a sadistic smile graced her features.

"So, how about we do some offensive manoeuvres? Let's start with a presentation, Hisao would you be so kind as to be my sparring partner?" Anju requested sweetly.

Hisao's blue eyes widened minutely before he fixed a grim expression on his face.

"Why not, this can't end badly for me at all." He said sarcastically.

Anju's flashed him a grin and sunk into a fighting stance.

"Ready? One, two, three!"

.

"For the sake of your ego, It would be best if you did not see the following fight." Kaida told Kyo, her hand coming up to cloud the image in the pool.

"Why, don't tell me that Tiger bet the Cat?" Kyo demanded. Kaida shrugged apologetically causing him to groan.

"If it makes you feel better, Hisao probably could have matched her. Unfortunately his mother raised him not to hit girls and that included temperamental, athletically talented Tigers."

Kyo grumbled incoherently under his breath and Kaida chuckled softly at him.

"It's nice to see you rooting for Hisao so much, but then in a sense he is almost like a past life for you isn't he?"

Kyo raised an eyebrow at her. "Trust me, for your sake I hope that's not true otherwise your current 'life' is an uptight ass."

Kaida pursed her lips and considered that. "True. Shall we move on?"

"Yeah, why not."

And so the waters began to swirl.

.

"Atchoo! Atchoo!" Anju sneezed loudly. She was lying in her bed, the covers up to her chin, pearls of sweat glistening on her brow causing her blonde hair to become matted.

"You are definitely not coming to school today." Kaida said whilst applying a cool cloth to her friend's forehead.

"Don't be ridiculous..." She wheezed out, her voice raspy and raw, "I'm...absolutely...fi-." A fit of coughing cut her off and she moan softly.

"Yeah, you're the epitome of health." Kaida told her with a raised eyebrow.

Anju could do nothing to reply but splutter out a continuous ream of coughing. When she finished she fixed her red rimmed eyes on Kaida.

"Maybe I should... stay in bed...for a little while." She gasped out. Kaida chuckled and stroked her hair.

"Maybe." She agreed. Suddenly a knock on the door made her glance up. Mura stood there looking unsure of herself.

"You sent for me, Miss." She said nervously. Kaida beamed at the young maid gratefully.

"Mura, thank you for coming. Anju's not feeling well, I think it may be the flu. Could you look after her for a little while, I have to go to class but I'll be back soon." Kaida asked.

Mura blinked in surprise, most likely at being entrusted with such a job, looking after one of the high ranking members of the Sohma family in their time of need. A small smile graced her lips and she gave a firm nod.

"Yes, Kaida-san, I will. Please take as long as you need."

Kaida breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mura. I appreciate it." She turned to Anju and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Do me a favour and don't die or anything while I'm gone."

Anju chuckled weakly. "I'll do my best...Make sure...you train...no slacking off..."

Kaida opened her mouth to protest but Mura interrupted.

"I don't mind staying longer Miss, if that's what's worrying you. Feel free to go to the dojo after your lessons."

Kaida sighed but gave Mura a small smile. "You're too nice to me, Mura. Thank you." She made to leave, as she did she leaned into the maid.

"If she gets any worse, send for the doctor. And then for me." She instructed calmly. Mura nodded her grey eyes sparking with understanding. With a final concerned glance at Anju, Kaida left the room.

When she arrived at the classroom Sensei had already begun to address the students so she swiftly took her seat down the back. Kyo noted Hisao throw a confused look in her direction, no doubt in relation to the absence of Anju. Haruka too seemed to be looking around expectantly.

"Kaida-san, where is Anju today?" Sensei asked, voicing everyone's unspoken question.

"She's not feeling well today, Sensei." Kaida explained. Kyo saw Haruka's stoic face crease in worry and she bit her lip before returning to a more apathetic expression. Kaida seemed to have spotted the change in Anju's estranged twin as well as her brown eyes narrowed in scrutiny.

"Well, tell her I hope she will return to us soon." Sensei told Kaida causing her to glance back at him and away from Haruka.

"I will, Sensei." She replied, her gaze glancing over to Haruka for another moment. The brunette was no longer facing her and Kaida sighed and turned her attention back to the lesson at hand.

.

"So, what's wrong with Anju?" Hisao asked as they walked from the class room after the day's lesson. It was a windy Autumn day and Kyo noted with some amusement the odd way that Hisao's grey and black hair was sticking on end.

Kaida attempted futilely to reign in her fiery locks as she replied. "What isn't wrong with Anju? She's pretty sick all round. That didn't stop her from ordering me to go to the dojo though."

Hisao tilted his head at her. "Would you like me to come with you to train?" He offered.

Kaida shrugged. "Sure, come along if you'd like. I could do the with the sparring partner, thanks."

"No problem."

They continued a series of light conversation topics as they made their way to the dojo. At one point Kaida's hair, whipped into a frenzy by the weather, smacked Hisao full in the face causing him to splutter. Kaida laughed at him as he swatted at the scarlet mess.

"How long had Hisao been going to your training sessions with Anju?" Kyo questioned, noting the amicable atmosphere between the younger Kaida and Hisao.

Kaida pursed her lips. "I'd say about two, maybe three weeks. He happened to be using the arena at the same time we were and it seemed simpler to just train together. Ever since I bit his head off on my birthday he had warmed to me."

Kyo nodded. "So you tell a guy off and he becomes your friend, weird."

Kaida chuckled. "I suppose it is a little, but then perhaps it just helped him to know he wasn't alone in his suffering. That I was stuck right there with him and everybody else. Never underestimate the reassurance you can receive by having someone by your side. But then, I needn't tell you that, I imagine this Tohru you were speaking about earlier gives you precisely that feeling of comfort."

Kyo's cheeks pinked and his ears shot up. "Shut Up! I, Tohru is, Just Shut Up!" He shouted in embarrassment causing Kaida to chortle.

"Are you blushing, Kitty?"

Kyo's hands went to his face in horror but he quickly pushed them back down.

"No! I, No! Just get on with the story, you stupid Dragon!" He huffed.

Kaida smirked teasingly but she turned her attention back to the pool, stopping her teasing, for now.

.

"Ready? Dive!" Hisao ordered. Kaida immediately dropped to her stomach and rolled across the ground which she quickly pushed off and leapt to her feet. Hisao nodded approvingly, his blue eyes studying her form expertly.

"Good, that's good. But your landing a little too heavily on wrists. Try to put more of your weight on knees when you push up." He advised.

"Like this?" Kaida asked, doing to the move again. Hisao smiled minutely.

"Much better. You're a quick study." He told her, handing her a bottle of water.

"Thanks, well, I have a good teacher." Kaida smirked at him, taking the drink gratefully.

He smirked for a moment. "Me or Anju?"

"That depends, do you reckon Anju can hear what I say from here?"

He breathed a single laugh and ran a hand through his mismatched hair. "I doubt it. Even she's not that good. Especially when she's sick."

"Yeah, I had better get back to her soon. I don't want to leave Mura there for too long, she said she didn't have anything to do but with that girl there is a good chance she was just saying that to make me feel better."

"Mura? Who's that?"

"Oh, she's my friend who works around the main house as a maid. She mostly works at night which is when I see her. That pesky insomnia of mine actually helped me make a friend." She chuckled as she scooped up her bag, when she turned back to Hisao she saw he was giving her an incredulous look.

"What? Did I say something?"

He shook his head as though he was clearing it. "It's just, you surprise me, I guess."

Kaida blinked in surprise, self consciously she put her arm behind her back. "Me? Why?"

"Well, you're friends with one of the maids. You managed to get Anju out of her shell and trust you in the two months you've been here and you're hanging out with me. The Cat. You're kind of...weird and impressive at the same time."

Kaida's cheeks pinked faintly. "I, I don't know about that. I reckon I'm pretty normal...you know standard Sea Horse morphing girl." She giggled nervously and Kyo brought his palm to his face. The young Kaida was an awful liar.

Hisao didn't seem to notice, however. He smiled. "Now all you have to do is get Haruka and Anju talking again and you'd really be a miracle worker."

Kaida tilted her head and pursed her lips as though she was debating asking something.

"Do you...like Haruka?" She questioned carefully, it seemed a fair question, considering his interest in the twins relationship.

A cruel snort made her look to the dojo entrance.

"Oh Osamu, please don't tell me the Cat has a crush on the Dog, think of the children." Kira sneered, his black eyes glinting in the sunlight.

"Do you just wait outside the dojo door to sneak up on me, or am I really that unfortunate that you have just happened to be standing there?" Kaida snapped. Kira raised an eyebrow.

"Meow, and I thought Anju was the one with the claws. Relax little dragon, I have far better things to be doing then stalking you. Believe it or not, I do train at this time. It's hardly my fault you girls take so long to leave. Speaking of which," He glanced past Kaida to Hisao whose hands were curled into fists,

"Isn't it time you skulked home, Kitty Cat? I could have sworn Osamu didn't want you wandering so close to the main house unaccompanied."

Hisao growled and tensed but Kaida shot out a hand to stop him from lunging at the Rat.

"He is accompanied. I'm here." Kaida told him smoothly.

Kira attempted to look down his nose at her but failed considering he was a hairs breath taller than here.

"You don't count. Little Dragon."

Kaida glared at him and walked over so their faces were an inch apart. She leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"You have no idea just how much I count." She told him slowly, causing him to look at her in surprise.

"Come on Hisao, this place has become a little too vermin infested for my taste." She said lightly. Hisao smirked and followed her out, locking eyes with Kira as he went.

"You don't want to start this with me, Little Dragon. You'll get yourself hurt." Kira warned, his voice bright and relaxed.

Kaida paused in her departure and shook her head, an amused smile on her face.

"That statement is wrong in more ways than you will ever know." She chuckled. She began to leave before faltering, a considerate expression flickering across her features.

"Actually, who knows. Maybe one day you'll find out."

The tall elegant red head strode proudly from the dojo, leaving a fuming Rat in her wake.


	19. Intimate Moments

_**A/N: Hey guys, this chapter is a little short but I hope you like it, Please review and tell me what you think!**_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: I don't mind, the fact that you keep reviewing is enough to make me forgive you :) Thanks, I like them as a little trio. I know it may not seem it but I actually love Yuki, that's why I wanted Kira to be so different to him so Kyo could see that his Rat is not as bad as a Rat could be :)**_

_**Kuryami: Me neither! Nearly every time I write him I want her to punch him in the face, have to keep reminding myself to stick to my plan. **_

_**Irgoomer: Thanks! I hope you'll like this one, personally I think you'll find it to be very interesting.**_

_**Guest: He is an ass! Go on Hisao!**_

_**The sakura trees: I'm glad you're enjoying the plot. Thanks for the well wishes, we'll see how things go.**_

_**Shadedstarlight0: Well wait no further, here it is.**_

_**So without further ado, here's chapter 19!**_

.

"You know he's going to have a vendetta against you now, don't you?" Hisao told her. Kaida rolled her chocolate eyes and scoffed.

"Let him. I'm not afraid of a little rat, what's he going to do, give me rabies?"

Hisao half smirked before trying to set a serious expression on his face. "It's not that simple, he's cunning, he'll find a way to mess with you if he can. And I hate to admit it but the bastard is actually a pretty talented fighter. Plus, he has Osamu behind him."

Kaida shrugged, "So what, Osamu's already taken me from my family, what else can he do?"

"Don't say that." Hisao caught her wrist and stopped her, his grip tight enough for surprise and discomfort to flash across Kaida's face.

"You don't know him, you don't know what he's willing to...you don't know him." Hisao warned, a tortured expression on his features. Kaida stared at him in confusion, her gaze glancing down to his hold on her and back to his face.

"Hisao-kun..."

"Is that Haruka?" He cut across her, looking over her shoulder. Kaida turned and he dropped her wrist. Sure enough, Anju's brunette twin was there, hovering awkwardly by the entrance to the main house.

"I wonder why she's here?" He added curiously. Kaida pursed her lips.

"I don't know, maybe she needs to see someone. Hey," She said suddenly as he attempted to drift away.

"Are you...okay?" She asked awkwardly. He smiled sheepishly,

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He cleared his throat. "You should go speak to her, she looks a little lost." He advised.

Kaida glimpsed at Haruka before biting her lip and turning to Hisao who was now walking off.

"You never answered my question earlier, you know."

He frowned at her, looking at her over his shoulder.

"What question?"

She grinned at him. "You know, if you liked..." She gestured to Haruka. Hisao blinked, taken aback before smiling a little.

"Gossip." He accused, moving to face her.

She snickered. "Avoiding the question, are we?" She winked at him teasingly.

He ran a hand through his two toned hair and laughed self consciously."No. I don't like her like that. Happy?"

Kaida pouted, "Drat, thought I was on to something."

Hisao chuckled. "Sorry, guess you'll just have to keep trying to figure out who I like." He started to stroll home.

Kaida's eyebrows shot up. "So does that mean there is someone?"

"Goodbye Kaida." He waved at her without looking back or stopping.

"Oi! Hisao! Uh, stupid alley cat!" She shouted after him. Kyo thought he could see Hisao's shoulders shake up and down with laughter.

Kaida glared at his retreating form before turning back to see Haruka still standing uncomfortably outside the main house. With a sigh, the red head walked up to greet the younger girl.

"Hello Haruka-san." She offered in greeting. Haruka jolted, an action that Kyo thought strange, surely her hearing should have picked up Kaida's approach.

"Oh, hello Kaida-san. How are you?" She said politely, fixing the hem of her knee length skirt self consciously. Kaida's brows knitted together.

"I'm fine, how are you?" She asked carefully.

"I am well, thank you for asking."

Kaida nodded. "Do you...need something?"

Haruka's mouth opened slightly but no sound came out. She closed it and her jaw set, as though she was working up the courage to say something.

"I, ahem, I came to see...that is to say I..." She sighed, vulnerability flashing for just a second on her beautiful face, the image of her sister's.

"Is Anju really sick?" She questioned in a rush, her voice quiet.

Kaida seemed surprised by the question but answered none the less.

"Yes, but she'll be alright soon enough, I had someone watching over her today, I'll be going back into her now."

Haruka nodded, biting her lip. Kyo noted that unlike when Kaida, Anju or indeed even himself, were upset her canines had not elongated. Clearly she had more control over her transformations than most.

"That's, that's good. Thank you, for taking care of you. That's... very kind of you." She breathed, facing away from Kaida.

Kaida inclined her head to the side and put on a sympathetic smile.

"So Anju doesn't get sick often then." She stated calmly.

Haruka turned rapidly to look Kaida in the eye.

"Sorry?"

"Well it seems the most likely reason for you being so worried." She explained coolly.

Haruka made a noise of surprise. "You're right, she doesn't. Even when we were little, I would get sick before she did. She was the strong twin."

Haruka took a few steps in no particular direction before pausing.

"We're identical, by the way. Or at least, we were. Did you know that? Not many do, did Anju tell you?" Haruka murmured the words, her brown eyes had glazed over as she spoke, as though she was looking directly into the past.

"No she didn't." Kaida answered, confusion evident on her features.

"When, when we were born, we were both blonde with brown eyes. Perfect copies of each other." Haruka whispered the words with a slight wistfulness.

She cleared her throat. "But the curse, it took my hair. I became a brunette to match my fur and for Anju it stole her eyes. Made them glow. I think they made my parents nervous, those glowing eyes."

She ran a hand through her hair and Kyo could tell by her stillness that Kaida daren't move nor speak lest she stop Haruka from speaking.

"Sometimes I miss being her carbon copy twin. I hate this curse for taking that, for taking her from me."

Suddenly she straightened and fixed her shirt. In a voice more akin to her usual calm tone she spoke.

"Which is why I have to keep trying to get her back, get her home."

Kaida looked at her with pity. "She's never going to go home, Haruka. She can't."

Haruka nodded. "I know. But I have to try. I always have to try."

She looked to the sky and frowned. "I have stayed too long, I have to return home or my parents will worry. Goodbye Kaida-san, please give Anju my best."

She made her way to leave but as she passed Kaida she faltered.

"When you said that you had left someone with her, who was it?"

"My friend Mura, she's one of the maids here." Kaida answered. Haruka frowned.

"Does she happen to be young, with brown hair and pointed features perhaps?" Haruka enquired causing Kaida to narrow her eyes at her.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Because I saw her leave the house earlier, she looked a little nervous about it, I requested if she had any knowledge of Anju's welfare and she said that she was doing better and she had gone to get some more towels."

"Oh, well that is understandable." Kaida shrugged.

"Yes but when I asked her if Anju was alone she said no, however she was sleeping. I presumed you were with her, though clearly that is not the case."

Kaida glanced at the house with curiosity. "I see... I'm afraid I don't know who she could have been talking about..."

"Miss Sohma, Miss Kaida, have you come to see Miss Sohma?" Mura suddenly greeted, walking up the stone path, her arms laden down with towels and a water bowl.

"No, I was just leaving. Thank you for taking care of my sister Mura-san." Haruka said before leaving.

"Mura, who is with Anju?" Kaida asked not unkindly. Mura looked at her blankly.

"Mr Sohma."

"Which Mr Sohma?"

"I'm afraid I don't know his first name miss, he was a large man." She supplied with an apologetic smile. A look of dread crossed Kaida's face for an instant before she put on a calm face.

"That's alright, here, let me take these to her, you go have a break."

"Thank you Miss Kaida, but you don't have-"

"Don't worry about it, go eat or something, I'll take it from here." She gave her a reassuring grin and took Mura's burden off her.

"Thank you Miss."

"No problem, I'll see you later Mura."

"Goodbye Miss Kaida."

Kaida took an apprehensive breath before pulling open the door to the main house awkwardly with one hand. She strode down the hallway with long steps, clearly worried about who was with Anju. She reached the door and placed all the towels and water bowl on the floor as she attempted to open the door handle before realising it was ajar. Suddenly a voice reached her through the wood and she froze. Kyo felt a jolt of shock and relief as he recognised the voice.

"...Trust you to get delirious from a bloody cold. Drama queen." Shun murmured. Kaida placed her ear to the door, waiting for Anju's snarky reply.

But it never came and she straightened. She slowly pushed the door open and peeked around the side. Kyo blinked in surprise at what she saw.

Shun sat on Anju's bed, his back against the wall and his legs bent out in front of him. Anju was lying asleep, her head resting on his stomach, his knees on either side of her shoulders. His arms were wrapped loosely around her, resting on top of her stomach as he supported her.

"Seriously, who gets nightmares from the flu? And now I have to sit here and talk to your pathetic weak ass-"

Anju moaned softly in her sleep, tossing her head in restlessness and cutting off Shun's line of thought.

"Shhhh, I'm here, I'm here. Deep breaths, you're fine, you're fine. I'm here tiggy." He rubbed her arms, his lips coming down to whisper in her ear. She seemed to be soothed from the words, her entire body easing into Shun.

He smiled and breathed a sigh, an affection smile on his face as his thumbs continued to rub circles on her arms.

"That's my girl."

Kaida quickly moved backwards, embarrassment at seeing such an intimate moment evident on her pinking cheeks.

She closed the door back over, but not before she saw one Shun place a swift kiss on Anju's temple. He swallowed and rested his chin on her matted blonde hair, his grey eyes staring straight ahead.


	20. Ignorance is Bliss, Knowledge is a Bitch

_**A/N: Hey so I may be disappearing for a little while, my exams start on Wednesday, I'll be writing whenever I can but it will be a bit hard for me to update for a little while. So with that in mind I stayed up late to make this an extra long chapter. Please Review and tell me what you think, something tells me you guys will have some comments after reading this.**_

_**Review Replies:**_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: It is a little like that but I think you'll see one very obvious difference in this chapter ^_^ They can be very cute together though in their little angry love hate relationship thing-y. **_

_**Anonymusblader123 (And Kisune): SO MUCH EMOTION! I am really happy you guys liked that little moment, I was afraid it would get a little cheesy but I wanted it to be sweet as well. Glad you like Hisao and Kaida even though they took a bit of a back seat in that chapter**_

_**Irgoomer: I know right, pity she was asleep**_

_**The Sakura trees: It'll happen soon, I swear it will. And it will be glorious. **_

_**Kuryami: This was as soon as I could manage ^_^**_

_**Without further ado, here's chapter 20!**_

_**.**_

"Hold up, are Anju and Shun a thing?!" Kyo demanded, looking at Kaida with shock. Kaida chuckled, the flames on her arm casting strange shadows on her face.

"That is a loaded question, my sweet Kitty."

Kyo growled, "Why can't you just give a straight freaking answer?!"

"Because that would mean giving you spoilers and ruining my fun. Patience, darling, the next thing I show you will explain quite a bit."

"Uh, fine...stupid dead dragon." He muttered in a growl. She winked at him and began to conjure up the next image in the pool. Suddenly Kyo frowned as a thought struck him.

"Wait, isn't Shun like twenty four or something like that?"

"At this point he is, yes." Kaida replied nonchalantly.

"But Anju's only, what, fifteen?! That is so creepy!"

Kaida shrugged. "She's nearly sixteen." She supplied in justification.

"So? That's still a..." Kyo paused as he counted. "...An eight and a half year difference."

"More like eight and a quarter but I take your point, Kitty. Trust me, a lot of people agreed with you. It may have been an earlier time but even so it was a bit of a complicated situation, especially when Osamu-" Kaida caught herself. "I've said too much, just wait and find out what's going on like a normal person."

Kyo made a noise of protest but Kaida cut him off with a ghostly finger to his lips. "No talk-y just watch-y."

He huffed but leaned back against the cave wall. "Still creepy..." He mumbled, disgruntled.

Kaida snorted, before her irises flashed a little brighter causing yet another memory to reveal itself.

.

"Are you sure you're feeling better? We can just have a day in if you'd like." Kaida asked, glancing worriedly at Anju who was pulling a jumper over her head, her short hair sticking up messily.

The tiger rounded on her friend and bored her eyes into hers. "Kaida I swear, if you try to keep me in this room for one second longer I will tear that pretty head off your ridiculously long body."

Kaida held her hands up in defence. "Okay, okay, just checking you really are alright. You were bed ridden for a week and a half, you only started moving around two days ago."

"Exactly, that means I've spent almost two weeks with only you, Hisao and that damned mule for company. If I don't go outside soon I'm going to go insane. And you do not want a crazy tiger running around here."

Kaida considered her statement. "True, that sounds like a quick way to get myself killed. Fine, let's go for a walk in the woods, I'm not letting you into the dojo just yet."

"Yes, mother."

"I am not old enough to be your mother." Kaida protested as they left their bedroom.

"_Sure_ you're not, you old grouch." Anju teased.

"When are you sixteen anyway?" Kaida inquired.

"On the twentieth of October." Anju told her, shoving open the gates to the outer town. The locals quickly made a path for them and Kyo had to admit he was a little taken aback by the mixture of reverence and fear in their eyes. Things were not quite so extreme in his time.

"Hey, that's only a week and a half from now. What was that you said to me about people not giving other people notice?!" Kaida demanded in mock anger.

"How do you that I wasn't going to tell you soon? I still had a week." Anju countered.

"Please, you're just trying to make me forgive you, it'll never happen though. I've been hurt too badly. I'm going to have to throw a shoe at you." Kaida told her as they left the outer town and began to head into the forest.

"A shoe? Why a shoe?"

"I don't know, that just seems to be what you do whenever someone annoys you, it would be poetic irony." Kaida rationalised.

"I'm not sure that's what irony is."

"Eh, it's close enough." Kaida shrugged.

"You're only looking for an excuse to throw shit at me, aren't you?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Anju smacked Kaida across the back of the head playfully.

"Ow!" Kaida complained, rubbing the area.

"Aw, does it hurt?"

"Not really, to be honest I'm more surprised your short ass was able to reach that high, what are you, three feet tall?"

"I'm five foot one you stupid dragon."

"More like five foot and a half, or a quarter...or an eighth..."

"Do you want another slap?" Anju threatened.

Kaida laughed but froze as she heard a noise to her side. Her head tilted towards the sound curiously.

"Did you hear that?" She asked, Anju shook her head in response. The shorter girl tensed and closed her gold eyes as she focused.

An indistinct murmur of voices travelled to Kyo's ears and Anju's lids snapped open, confirming she had also heard it. Kaida and her shared a look and they sunk into a stance each.

"Who is that?" Kaida whispered. Anju's placed her finger to her lips and shook her head indicating she either didn't know or couldn't tell. Anju then pointed skywards and Kaida frowned at her in confusion. The tiger rolled her eyes and her nails turned to claws. She sunk them into the bark of the closest tree. She then began to scale it until she was hidden among the foliage.

Kaida's eyebrows shot up. "Anju! What the hell are you playing at?" She hissed in a quiet voice. A small hand poked out of the branches and beckoned for her to follow up. Kaida grumbled under her breath and leapt up, her hands closing around a low lying branch. She hoisted herself up and continued to climb upwards. Once she reached the leaf covered top she spotted Anju and crawled awkwardly over to the blonde where she squatted predatorily. Kyo was reminded of a tiger's love of the hunt, it sparkled in the young girl's eyes.

"Why are we in a tree?" Kaida asked, ignoring her friend's irritated look at her refusal to stop talking.

"So we aren't seen." Anju explained.

Kaida gave her a sceptical look. "You don't think people will notice the rustling of branches?"

Anju shook her head. "I've done this before, people tend to presume it's just birds or the wind."

"I didn't when you went all psycho kitty on me two months ago."

"Yes, but your weird. You don't count."

"Oh, thanks, I love you too."

"Shut up, you'll get us caught, come on. Let's go see who that was earlier, if we stay here much longer they might leave." Anju's thighs flexed as she jumped to a nearby tree.

"Yeah, cause then who will we stalk?" Kaida said with a roll of her brown eyes.

Anju didn't reply and Kaida sighed. "My friend is weird." She muttered before following after the curious tiger.

They continued to move amongst the tree tops. Anju stalked the voices with the sleek elegance her other form was famed for. Kaida, however, was about as graceful as the one ton dragon she turned into.

Anju shot her an exasperated frown when Kaida squeaked as she nearly fell. Once she straightened herself and regained her balance she flashed Anju a grin and a thumbs up causing the blonde to bury her face in her palm.

They were nearly at the voices now and Kyo felt a moment of surprise when he realised he recognised the gruffer male one as Shun's. The other lighter, more serene voice seemed faintly familiar but he could not place it. Kaida faltered and glanced at Anju, causing him to believe she too had made the connection with Shun's voice. Anju just continued to move through the forest, her enthusiasm suddenly dimmed and replaced with a stony faced expression.

Kaida could hear the individual words now and she positioned herself beside Anju who had suddenly stopped in one of the taller trees. There was a gap in the leaves and they could look down to the ground below with ease. There, lying casually on the ground, was Shun and beside him was a girl. After a moment Kyo realised it was Suki, the rabbit of the zodiac, her long brown hair billowing out behind her as she lay by Shun's side.

"I'm glad we got to do this Shun-kun, I feel like I haven't seen you in a long time." Suki said calmly, inclining her head so that it was resting on Shun's shoulder.

Kaida turned to search Anju's face but she merely looked on impassively.

"Me too, I've been really busy on the farm. Harvest season has just ended." He explained.

"Still, it is nice to go into the woods together again, like when we were children." She smiled, her fingers laced through his as she spoke.

"Yes, it is, I suppose." He replied, gazing around. Suki gave a small smile and let out a little sigh.

"Thank you for asking me to come out today, Shun-kun. You are one of the few people father doesn't mind me being with."

Anju's breath hitched and Kaida looked at her in alarm. Her claws had dug deeply into the tree's bark.

"No problem, Suki-chan. We should do it more often."

That did it. Anju turned and began to sprint across the branches, all attempts at subtlety forgotten. Kaida saw Shun look up in surprise and she quickly followed Anju before she could be spotted. Unfortunately, Anju was far faster than Kaida, especially when she was upset so the dragon took a while to spot her.

She found her sitting on the ground at the edge of the forest, her face buried against her knees. Kaida jumped down beside her and put a gentle hand on Anju's shoulder. She tensed under her touch.

"Anju, are you-"

"So Shun got himself a girlfriend. Good for him, never thought he'd be able to pull it off." She said curtly, quickly getting to her feet and brushing off her knees.

"And one his own age too, got to say I'm impressed. And she's beautiful as well, pity she's a bit of an airhead though but I suppose you can't have everything, can you?" She rushed out, fixing her clothes.

"I guess we should head back, shouldn't we? You might have been right earlier, I'm suddenly feeling sick again."

Kaida just looked at her sadly. "Anju..."

"Don't. Don't look at me like that, like my goldfish just died or something. I'm fine, just surprised is all." She started walking back to the town's gates.

Kaida looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "So, you are telling me you don't feel even a little upset about this?"

"Why would I? It's not like I care about that stupid mule, he's like an annoying big brother, that's all. I'm just annoyed he didn't tell me. I mean, did he think I would, I would be bothered by him seeing..." She licked her lips. "...seeing Suki?"

Kaida frowned, "Well, I uh, I mean after the way he took care of you when you were sick..."

Anju looked at Kaida in confusion. "What are you talking about, he didn't do anything special when I was sick, you would know, he was only ever there when you were."

Kaida blinked in surprise. Kyo had a feeling she was trying to figure out if Anju believed what she was saying or if she was trying to throw Kaida off course. But there was no denying the look of unawareness on her face.

She had no memory of Shun comforting her during her nightmares.

Kaida bit her lip and ran a hand through her hair. She sighed a little. "Yeah, you're right, I guess."

.

Kyo rounded on the ghostly Kaida. "Why didn't you tell her about him kissing her when she was sick?"

"I didn't think it would help for her to know that Shun had shown her affection when she was comatose two weeks before he began to court Suki."

"But she deserves to know!"

"Look, I made a choice, who knows if it was the right one, but I can't exactly do much about it now, sweetheart. One, you can't change the past, two, I'm _dead_."

"Yeah, well...your choice sucked."

"Oh, look at you, you little Anju and Shun...what's the modern word, shipper?" Kaida teased.

"Just get on with it." Kyo grouched.

"Fine, we're moving on to Anju's birthday, if you don't mind."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

.

Kaida crouched down on the floor, staring in concentration at Anju's sleeping form. A mischievous smirk graced her features.

"Destination in five, four, three, two, one."

She leapt and sailed through the air, landing heavily on Anju. The blonde shrieked and twisted, grabbing Kaida in a hold and flipping her onto the ground, her body straddling hers as she grasped the red head's throat.

"Kaida? What are you doing?" Anju asked.

"Happy Birthday!" Kaida wheezed, smiling despite her lack of oxygen. Kyo had a feeling that the knowledge you can unleash the strength of a mythical creature if you wished made it hard for you to fear for your life.

"Can I breathe now?" Kaida gasped, her face turning a little red.

"Oh, right." Anju let go of her throat but didn't get up from her position on Kaida's lap. The dragon coughed and rubbed at her neck.

"So your plan was too attack me on my birthday?" Anju clarified.

"Pretty much. Seemed like a good idea at the time, I forgot you have those pesky martial art skills."

"Yeah, they can be a bit of a problem. Thanks though, that was kind of sweet." Anju said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

"Well you know me, part sweet, part freak." Kaida grinned.

"Mostly freak." Anju added causing Kaida to pout.

"Look who's talking. Hey, move your knee for a second, I need to get something out of my pocket."

Kaida rummaged in her trousers and pulled out a small box. She leaned back on her elbows as she watched Anju's face for her reaction.

"Happy Birthday."

Anju opened to see a simple silver ring that would look like two leaves wrapping around your finger when worn.

"Are you asking me to marry you?"

"In your dreams. It's nothing fancy, not even real silver, I bought it in the local market just before I came here, I noticed you don't have a lot of jewellery and I know you are not exactly a jewellery kind of girl but I thought you might like it."

Anju gazed at the ring for another moment before suddenly attack hugging Kaida, effectively tackling her to the floor.

"Thanks." She mumbled.

"No problem shortie."

"Em...Am I interrupting?" The two of them looked up sharply from their embrace on the floor to see Hisao staring at them with raised eyebrows.

"You wish, pervert. What are you doing here, cat?"

"I came to wish you happy birthday, and give you this cake I made. It's relatively edible. I think, I mean, I didn't put anything poisonous in it...But if you two are too busy I can come back later."

Anju growled and got up freeing Kaida. She stalked up to Hisao but she was clearly fighting back a smile. "Thank you for the sentiments. Now get out."

"So I _am_ interrupting something? I did not know you girls had those kind of interests-"

"What kind of interests does tiggy have?" A new voice asked, causing both Kaida and Anju's eyes to widen in alarm.

"Wow, this room is popular this morning, we having a party? Will there be a theme? Dibs on wearing the tiara if there is." Shun said, his usual care free grin on his face. Hisao nodded at him in greeting but the two girls just tensed.

Shun's smile bean to shrank, "Is everything okay?"

"Fine. Go away."Anju snapped.

Shun smirked. "Hey now, what kind of greeting is that to give to your well wisher, besides I come bearing gifts. Well gift, you aren't worth two."

He pulled out a woven bracelet and held it up. It was mixture of gold and red threads, perfectly complimentary towards her blonde hair and golden eyes.

"Here, let me put it on you-"

"Get out." Anju whispered. Shun frowned, his confidence leaving his face as he realised that Anju was not just snarling at him in their usual joking manner.

"Tiggy, is everything-"

"I said get out!" She shouted, shoving him hard against the chest sending both him and Hisao crashing to the hall floor. She slammed the door in front of them, quickly locking it for good measure.

Kaida stared at her in worry.

"Anju, open the door! What's going on? What's wrong?!" Shun's voice demanded through the wood, twisting the door handle fruitlessly. Anju just shook her head and sat on Kaida's bed. After a moment of silence Shun growled on the other side of the door.

"Fine, I guess I'll leave you to it. Tell me when you've decided to stop being crazy."

Footsteps told them that both he and Hisao had left. Anju looked blankly out their bedroom window.

"Anju, what is it?" Kaida asked.

"Did you not recognise it?" Anju replied numbly.

Kaida tilted her head to the side. "Recognise what?"

"That bracelet. It's the same as the one Suki wears."


	21. Found Out

_**A/N: He guys, I'm back! Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out, I had a bit of trouble with it as it has certain characters I've never written for before and I was trying to get them right. Please, please, please, review and tell me what you think, I'm not too sure how I've done on this chapter,**_

_**Review Replies:**_

_**ShadedStarlight0: Don't worry, she'll be okay, kinda... **_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: Yeah, it makes things more difficult, doesn't it? We shall wait and see, this little plot line is a complicated enough one ^_^**_

_**Guest: Poor Anju indeed, not the best birthday ever.**_

_**Irgoomer: He's is very, very, very, confuzzled. **_

_**Anonymusblader123 (Kitsune): I love your passion but please, if at all possible, refrain from killing my characters, I have so much planned for them ^_^ Don't worry Hisao is fine, just a little offended but its Anju so he's not that surprised, he's used to it.**_

_**The Sakura Trees: We do indeed, I did check out your work, I left a review on your poem, I thought it was fantastic and emotional.**_

_**Whitedragon2645: I don't mind you getting emotional about the characters, that means I'm doing my job right ^_^ Thanks for the feedback, Its funny that you said that because this chapter has a lot more attention on Tohru and Kyo. I hope you like it!**_

_**Wow, you guys are not feeling the love for Shun, Ah well, I can understand that. **_

_**Without Further ado, here's chapter 21!**_

_**.**_

"Damn it, that Shun guy is an jackass." Kyo snarled. Kaida turned to him with an amused look in her eyes.

"Is that supposed to be a pun?" She asked with a chuckle. Kyo rolled his eyes.

"No, it-"

"Kyo! Kyo-kun, where are you? Can you hear me?"

"Miss Honda, please, come back under the umbrella."

"Crap! It's Tohru and that stupid rat!" Kyo hissed, leaping to his feet. Kaida's red irises seemed to glow a little brighter and she grinned.

"Really? So, I shall finally meet the infamous Tohru." She wiggled her eyebrows mischievously and Kyo narrowed his gaze at her.

"Don't even think about it, you're stay here."

"And, who, pray tell, is going to make me?"

"Listen, you damn-"

"Kyo! Can you hear us? Kyo, please answer us!" Tohru's voice sounded worried and Kyo inclined his head in her direction.

"You should probably answer her, Kyo." Kaida teased.

Kyo glanced to the entrance and back to his undead friend. "Don't do anything, alright?"

Kaida eyes widened innocently. "What would I do?"

"Kyo! Yuuki, can you see him? Can you hear anything?"

"No, Miss Honda, but don't worry, I am sure he has not gone far, he _has_ wandered off before. Damn cat." Yuuki muttered the last part under his breath, their voices seemed to be getting closer.

"I'll see you later, Kitty." Kaida grinned. Kyo watched as she slowly faded, her red irises and her smile the last things to go, like the Cheshire cat in Alice and Wonderland.

"Kaida!" Kyo growled but it was pointless, the only response he got was an impish chuckle. He groaned but headed towards the exit. He stepped out into the pouring rain and scanned the area.

"Tohru? Where are you?" He called out. He spotted her at the bottom of the path which led to the cave. Her face softened in relief and she ran up to Kyo.

"Kyo! Thank God, I was so scared!" She gasped, her arms stretched out wide. She engulfed him in a hug and he changed in a puff of smoke.

"It's fine, Tohru, relax, would you?" He said rolling his eyes.

"There you are Kyo, must you disappear like that? You caused Miss Honda to be anxious." Yuuki chastised. Kyo snarled at him.

"Shut up you stupid rat! No one asked you to come!"

"He came cause he was worried about you Kyo, we both were. You just ran off earlier and never came back. And with this storm..." Tohru trailed off, her hand stroking his head. Kyo felt a pang of guilt at that, he had been gone for a long time. He shifted uncomfortably in her arms.

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to come out here. It's not like I needed your help." He muttered. He jumped to the ground.

Tohru blinked, "I'm sorry Kyo, I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

Kyo frowned. "Don't apologise, you didn't do anything wrong!"

"Why don't we go home, Miss Honda?" Yuuki offered, throwing Kyo an annoyed look.

Tohru sighed, "Alright. Shigure is probably wondering where we are anyway." She scooped up Kyo's clothes and gave him a small smile.

They began to walk down hill, as they did Kyo glanced over his shoulder. For a moment, although he wondered if it he had imagined it, he thought he saw a pair of red irises watching them. He looked closer, but they had disappeared in a flash.

_So she is the famous Tohru, that's interesting, and I take it that this young man is your rat._

Kyo jumped at the sound of Kaida's voice in his ear, he glanced wildly around.

_Relax, Kitty, Only you can hear me, we have left the place where I have a connection, I am now linked to you, for the time being. _

"Kyo, is everything okay?" Tohru asked, looking down on him in concern.

"Yeah, yeah everything is fine." He muttered. Suddenly he changed back, causing Tohru to squeal and fling his clothes at him.

_Aw, she is rather adorable isn't she? I can see why you like her._

"Shut up." Kyo muttered.

"What was that?" Yuuki asked, his expression confused.

"Nothing. Let's just go home." Kyo said, pulling his t-shirt and trousers on. They were damp and unpleasant to touch but he had no other options.

_Best wait until we are alone before trying to speak to me, otherwise you could be emitted for speaking to things that aren't there._

Kyo rolled his eyes but made no verbal response. They continued their walk home in silence, every now and then Tohru would glance back to Kyo, as though she was checking he was still there.

Why does she keep doing that?, He thought in annoyance.

_You seem to have given her a bit of a fright, Kitty, perhaps you should apologise. _

Kyo frowned, wondering if Kaida could hear his thoughts.

_I don't know why you are pulling that face, but I still think you should go talk to her._

So, that seems like a no on the mind reading, either that or Kaida is trying to cover her tracks, he thought. As he did they arrived home, Yuuki entered first, followed by Tohru. Before she could go inside however Kyo reached out and grasped her wrist. She spun around in surprise and he dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Listen, I didn't mean to get you all upset, Although it was pretty stupid you were worried in the first place, I can handle myself and I don't need you to look after me...but yeah, I'm sorry that I got you all scared about me, I didn't want that to happen." He told her awkwardly. She made no reply for a second and he glanced up to her. She was looking at him with wide eyes but after a moment her face broke into a sweet smile.

"That's okay Kyo, you're home now. Come on, I saved some dinner for you. I made sure not to put any leeks in it and everything."

_Dear Lord, she is too cute. Marry her, marry her right now._

"I thought I told you to shut up." He hissed quietly.

_Yeah, yeah, you're very grumpy and scary. But seriously, if you don't marry her I just might._

Kyo growled at the bodiless voice. He walked into the house and saw Tohru at the stove, stirring something carefully before spooning it into a bowl. She turned to him with her usual goofy smile and he felt his breath catch in his throat for just a second. He quickly gave his head a slight shake and took the bowl from her.

"I hope you like it, I'll go get you a blanket, you must be freezing." Tohru fussed, running from the room.

"It's okay, I'm not-" He called after her but she was already gone, he gave a small smile. "-cold."

He continued eating when he sensed a presence watching him, he glanced up to see Yuuki giving him a condemning look from the hallway.

"Something you need, rat?" He asked coolly.

Yuuki pursed his lips in annoyance. "Why do you always have to cause such drama?" He sighed.

Kyo looked at him sharply, "Shut up, I didn't ask you to come looking for me."

"I could not allow Miss Honda to go out in that weather at this time of night alone, you stupid cat. And she seemed determined to go after you." Yuuki retorted.

Kyo snarled and felt his canines elongate before he thought about Kaida and her rat and how, compared to him, Yuuki didn't seem all that bad. He made an annoyed noise and turned away from the other boy.

"Whatever, I said sorry to her already, what more do you want?" He grunted, his voice staying at a lower volume level than it normally would when he was conversing with Yuuki.

Yuuki frowned and looked a little surprised, not by what Kyo said, but the tone in which he said it. He sounded uncomfortable and dismissive but also perhaps a little ashamed.

"Why were you in that cave?" He pressed. Kyo shrugged.

"It was raining, I wanted shelter, idiot." He said as though this were obvious.

"Yes but the weather calmed down, why did you not come home at that point?"

" I lost track of time." Kyo grumbled, "I'm going to bed." He stated, wanting to get away from Yuuki's prying. He pushed past him and made his way up the stairs.

"Hey! Come back here, you stupid cat!"

Kyo felt anger flash inside him but he kept walking leaving Yuuki frowning after him.

"Kyo-kun?" Tohru said in surprise as he brushed past her, her arms laden with blankets. She reminded him of Kaida's friend Mura.

"I'm going to bed." He repeated in ruff voice.

Tohru looked a little surprised before smiling at him brightly, "Of course, you must be tired, here. Take this blanket and rest up."

_Alright, now she has to be putting it on just a little, no one is that sweet._

Kyo's jaw twitched but he smiled at her. "Thanks."

"No problem, night Kyo-kun!"

"Goodnight Tohru."

He continued his journey to his room and shut the door calmly behind him. He let out a sigh and fell heavily onto his bed. He bit his lip and glanced around, ears listening intently for a certain ghost's voice. But none came.

"Kaida?" He whispered experimentally. Still, there was no reply and Kyo growled in frustration.

"Oi! Kaida! Can you hear me?" He demanded into empty air. Again, there was only silence. He rolled his eyes and moved on to his side.

"Fine," He grunted into the pillow, "Be like that." He was actually quite tired and soon the warmth of the bed and Tohru's blanket sent him off to sleep.

.

Kyo opened his eyes in a strange world of black, a fire in front of him being his only source of light. It reminded him of the cave and he glanced around in confusion.

"Allo Kitty cat." A mischievous voce greeted from the flames. Kyo watched in amazement as the fire shot up in plumes, causing him to stumble to his feet in fright. They arched through the air, landing on the ground across from him. A figure seemed to form itself in the inferno which swirled like a tornado. Slowly the blaze receded and a woman stood in front of him, older than he had ever seen her and in full colour, her long red hair making it seem as though she was still alight.

"Did you miss me?"

"What was that about?" He demanded, ignoring Kaida's question. She smirked in amusement.

"I thought I might as well make an entrance, don't worry, I'm not going to break your head."

"My head?" Kyo questioned in confusion. Kaida gave him a withering look and gestured to their surroundings.

"Come on, Kitty cat, think it through. Where do you reckon we are?"

Kyo glanced around and then moved his eyes back to Kaida's. It was strange seeing them like that, they were brown with laughter lines at the edges. She was older, but not as old as she should be for a ghost. Only in her thirties, he would guess. It made him wonder what age she was when she died.

"We're in my head, aren't we? I'm dreaming."

"Ding ding! Congratulations! That's the right answer, you just won yourself a brand new car!" Kaida said, theatrically spinning and doing jazz hands when she stopped. Her movements were smooth and fluid, different to how she moved in her memories.

"Well, not really. I'm dead, I can't get you a car. Your real prize is you get to see the rest of my story! Yay!" Kaida cheered.

Kyo rolled his eyes. "That's not much of a prize."

"Shut up, you know you love it. Now, come on," She held up her hand, her thumb pressed to her ring finger.

"Let's finish our adventure."

She snapped her fingers and the world dissolved.

At least, that seemed like an accurate description. The darkness receded and was replaced with a new scene, the hallway of the main house. It was as though Kyo had been placed directly in the vision.

"What's going on?"

"We're your head, we might as well upgrade, shouldn't we? Your generation from what I can tell is all about technological advancement. Consider this HD." Kaida told him with a wink, her arms crossed casually across her chest. She was leaning against the wall as though it were really there.

"You might want to take a step to the side." She advised.

"Why?" He asked before suddenly feeling a chill down his spine. In horror he watched as the young Kaida emerged from his body. She continued on unfazed, her hands fidgeting nervously as though she were preoccupied with troubling thoughts.

"What the freaking hell was that?!"

"Yeah, people walking through you really doesn't feel nice." Kaida agreed, shivering.

"She walked through me?" Kyo said in disbelief.

"Well what did you expect her, or rather, me to do? You're not really here, you can't interact with anything."

"Anything?" Kyo asked.

Kaida considered it. "Well, you can lean on the walls, they're pretty sturdy, but after that no, you are just a fly on the ceiling or whatever that expression is."

"Fly on the wall." Kyo corrected.

"Whatever, now come on. I'm getting away." Kaida said. Kyo rolled his eyes and they began to follow after the younger Kaida.

Kaida licked her lips nervously as she approached her destination. She stopped outside of the door and took a deep breath. Kyo watched as she rolled her shoulders and gripped the door handle. Her hands were shaking.

Slowly, the door swung open and she entered the room.

"You wanted to see me?" Kaida spoke in a voice that masked her nerves.

Osamu glanced away from the window he was looking out of and smiled at her.

"Yes, I did. Take a seat, Kaida."


	22. Rewards

_**A/N: I am really, really, really, sorry about the delay. I have been crazy busy and a family emergency meant I haven't been able to sit down and write this for over a week. So as an apology I made this chapter particularly long as well as including one or two happy surprises. So please enjoy and please review!**_

_**Review Replies: **_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: Sorry for the delay, I really didn't mean to leave that cliff hanger there for so long ^_^ I know, she's gone a little eccentric in her old...death ^_^ **_

_**ShadedStarlight0: Well I don't want to lie to you and I don't want to give away the plot so I'm just going to leave a smiley face, ^_^ I know, it would be cool if things like that could happen in real life, this is an unorganised review reply so its fine ^_^**_

_**Irgoomer: It's so technologically advanced! ^_^ I know, what is he scheming now? Thanks, I was really worried about writing them, especially Yuuki, I found it really difficult to write him. **_

_**Guest: Thank you! Glad you think Kyo has been portrayed well ^_^**_

_**Hmmm: Nothing, really, I think it may be the fact we know he likes Anju that is driving people insane ^_^ She is, she is lovely, unfortunately I'm sort of the opposite to you, I always like my badasses but don't worry, that story line is far from done. ^_^ **_

_**Without Further ado, Here's chapter 22**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

"How have you been Kaida? I fear we haven't had a chance to speak these past few months." Osamu said once she had sat down on one of his many mats. He stood by the window, his hands clasped behind his back. Between her sitting position and his height he towered over Kaida.

"I have been fine Osamu-sama." Kaida replied bowing her head respectfully.

"Good, I am glad to hear that. Tea?" He offered, his handsome face beaming at her. He moved from the window and lowered himself onto the mat across from her. Kyo saw Kaida swallow slightly at the proximity. Kaida made a small nod to his offer and he began to pour two cups as he spoke.

"And how have things been with the others? I hear you and Anju have become close friends."

Kaida nodded, "Yes Sir, we have. She has been very kind to me."

"Wonderful, I also hear you have started training with her and Hisao. Interesting that you chose to befriend the felines amongst us, especially when they have noses so good at sniffing things out." Osamu said the words lightly but his voice had an edge to it. Neither Kyo nor Kaida missed his warning. He passed her a cup of tea but when she took it he did not let go.

"Be sure their noses don't catch any scents, hmmm?"

Kaida's jaw tightened and she nodded. Osamu's face broke into another brilliant smile.

"Fantastic, you have been most compliant since your arrival Kaida, I must thank you for that."

"That's alright, Osamu-sama." Kaida said, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

"Nonsense. I feel a reward is in order. And he should be arriving very soon." Osamu told her, his eyes glancing at her slyly. Kaida's brow furrowed.

"He?" She questioned.

"Perhaps you should go to the front gate and find Tsukina. That will be all." Osamu dismissed her but Kaida hesitated. After a moment Osamu looked back at her and his blue eyes shone with amusement.

"Leave, Kaida." He ordered, however his voice was not gruff.

"I- Thank you Osamu-sama." Kaida replied in confusion. She rose slowly from her seat and made to leave the room, throwing a perplexed look over her shoulder as she did. Osamu was no longer watching her and was now flicking through some papers. She shook her head and departed.

"C'mon, we had best follow me." The ghostly Kaida told Kyo as she straightened from her spot on the wall. He quickly followed suit.

"Who was Osamu talking about? What's your reward?" He asked.

"You'll see, Kitty Cat." Kaida purred, flashing him a toothy grin. Kyo rolled his eyes as they followed Kaida through the main house and out towards the lower town. As she reached the gate for the main house a voice called to her.

"Kaida-san! Over here."

Kaida turned to see Tsukina standing with her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her beautiful face. She stood tall and regal and her white blonde hair glimmered in the afternoon sun.

"There you are, I was beginning to think you would never arrive." Tsukina chastised.

"Hello Tsukina, It has been a while, you haven't seemed to be around these past few weeks."

Tsukina smiled ever so slightly. "I have been around, Kaida, you simply have not been paying attention."

The blonde turned and gestured elegantly towards the gate. "Shall we?"

"That depends, what is it we shall be doing?" Kaida asked, her eyes narrowing. Tsukina clicked her tongue irritably.

"Our Lord has already told you why it is we are here. You are to be rewarded for your good behaviour. Now, if you please, I do not have all day."

Kaida gave Tsukina a hard look for another moment or two before sighing through her nose and stepping forward. She pushed open the gates and walked through them, Tsukina following closely behind.

"Where do we go from here?" Kaida asked.

"To the town side of Shun's farm. Your reward is waiting for you there."

"And what exactly is my reward?" Kaida demanded.

Tsukina's green eyes flared with something akin to irritation or anger. "You shall find out soon enough." She then began to walk quickly ahead leaving Kaida to follow in silence. Kaida had to break into a jog every now and then just to keep up with her long legged strides. Eventually they arrived outside of a large farm house on the outskirts of the town. Behind the house large fields spread far out into the nearby land. Tsukina glided smoothly up the path that led to the house, as they approached the door opened to reveal Shun. Kyo saw Kaida tense as she walked up to the door.

"How long has it been since Anju's birthday?" Kyo asked.

"Two weeks, they haven't spoken to each other since." Kaida answered.

"Shun-kun, how are you?" Tsukina greeted.

"Stop being so smiley Tsukina, it doesn't suit you." Shun retorted.

Tsukina frowned, "No need to be rude. Just because your little tiger won't speak to you doesn't mean you have to be foul humoured to the rest of us." She protested.

Shun's cheeks pinked and he turned away from them. "As if Anju has anything to do with the way I treat you. Hey dragon, ditch the snake and c'mon. I have someone I think you might want to-"

"Kaida-chan!"

A new voice came from inside the house and it was one that Kyo could tell Kaida instantly recognised. A young man pushed past Shun, his black eyes shining with joy, his brown hair as messy and unkempt as ever. He was a few inches shorter than Shun but in that moment he eclipsed everyone else.

Ryu smiled and Kaida broke into a run.

"Ryu-kun!" She screamed, she landed awkwardly in front of him, desperately wanting to hug him but knowing she couldn't. She grabbed his hands in hers and held them to her chest.

"When, how...?" She trailed off happily.

"This morning, Shun-san brought me here. Apparently I'm your present for good behaviour." He told her with a wink.

"This, this...I can't breathe. I can't believe you're here!" She gasped, her eyes watering with tears of happiness.

"Hey, no crying. I'll leave if you start that." Ryu told her off.

"Okay, okay. I'm good. It's so good to see you, Ryu-kun." She breathed. She kissed him on the forehead and then placed hers on his. They stood there for a moment before Ryu cleared his throat.

"Em, Kaida-chan? I'm really glad to be here with you but... we do have an audience."

Kaida straightened abruptly, her face turning bright red. She glanced over to see Tsukina looking at her with an amused expression and Shun was staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Right...Thanks for the help, we'll...just be off."

Shun gave her a half smile, "Yeah, you two go ahead and have fun."

"Shut up, Shun." Kaida muttered. She took Ryu's hand and began to lead him away from the house.

"It's good thing they can't actually do anything, I don't know about you but I don't fancy having anymore babies around here." She heard Shun say to Tsukina. Ryu laughed,

"You have interesting friends." He commented.

"You're using the term friends loosely there." Kaida told him.

"Oh really? Don't tell me you're a loner." Ryu teased.

"No, I do have friends. You want to meet them?" Kaida asked.

"But of course, it's my job to judge them relentlessly."

"Well here's your chance, Mura's coming." Kaida said before calling over to the mousy haired maid, "Hey! Mura-chan! Over here."

Mura looked up and spotted Kaida and Ryu as they entered through the main house gates. She was holding a lot of blankets and nodded to them politely.

"Hello Miss Kaida. Who is your friend?"

"Miss Kaida?" Ryu questioned under his breath.

"She refuses to drop the Miss." Kaida explained as they approached the maid.

"This is Ryu, he is an old friend of mine." She introduced.

"Hi." Ryu said giving a small wave.

"Hello Master Ryu." Mura replied with a bow.

"Yeah... Ryu is fine, Mura-san." He told her with a smirk. Mura smiled a little and nodded,

"Ryu, then." She mumbled. Kaida frowned,

"Hey, how come you agree to call him just Ryu but you won't-" She stopped and shook her head. "Never mind, I get it."

"Get what, Miss Kaida?"

"Not to be rude but for future reference can if I touch you or are you going to puff into an animal?" Ryu asked, interrupting Mura.

Mura's mouth fell open a little and her cheeks pinked, "I, I...Miss, is Ryu-san a Sohma?" She whispered urgently to Kaida.

Kaida chuckled and shook her head. "No, you're safe Mura. He's a non-cursed person like yourself, he just happened to hug me against my permission when we were children." Kaida explained, pinching Ryu's cheek. He smacked her hand away playfully.

"Oh I understand Miss. You must have an open mind Ryu-san, to accept Miss Kaida." Mura praised.

"Well, I don't know about that. I started running after I saw her but then she started crying and, well, she was _so_ pathetic I just _had_ to comfort her."

"Ryu-chan, darling, I didn't realise you developed a death wish in my absence." Kaida said sweetly.

"I love you too Kaida. You must be important too, Mura-san, to know about this whole curse thing."

"Oh, I don't know about that, Ryu-san, my family have been serving the Sohmas for generations. I just happened to have been born here." Mura dismissed looking at her feet.

"Ignore her, Mura is one of the best maids we have working here. She does all of her work without you even noticing she was ever there, honestly sometimes it's a little unnerving how silently she can move." Kaida moved her mouth to Ryu's ear and fake-whispered, "She's like a ninja."

"Who's a ninja? Is it this guy?" A new voice asked from behind them. Kyo recognised Anju immediately and he could tell Kaida did as well. Ryu and Mura jumped at the sound of her voice but Kaida showed no surprise. Kyo imagined she heard Anju approach.

"Maybe, but if he is he has done a wonderful job of hiding it." Kaida responded, turning to face Anju.

"I wouldn't know considering I have no idea who he is." Anju said pointedly.

"Alright, I'll take the hint. Anju this is Ryu, my friend from back home, Ryu this is Anju, my psychotic roommate that occasionally turns into a tiger."

"Pleasure." Anju winked.

"Oh right, Anju, I've heard about you, that guy Shun mentioned you." Ryu said brightly. Anju's jaw abruptly tensed but she tried to cover it up with a quick smile.

"Don't believe everything you hear." Anju told Ryu before turning to Kaida.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to come to the dojo. But if you would rather hang out here I understand."

"Well..." Kaida said glancing at Ryu.

"I don't mind going to the dojo, I find the idea of you working out very amusing."

"Thanks." Kaida muttered.

"Miss Kaida, if you don't mind I must return to work." Mura stated. Kaida nodded,

"Sure, I'll see you later Mura, take care."

"Goodbye Mura, it was nice meeting you." Ryu told her.

"Goodbye, Ryu-san, Miss Kaida, Miss Sohma." Mura scurried off quickly and Ryu watched her leave for a moment or two. When he turned back he saw the two girls staring at him with raised eyebrows.

"What?"

"You are about as subtle as Kaida in a tree." Anju criticised.

"Hey! Give me some credit, I'm not even that obvious."

Ryu's cheeks went a little pink and he cleared his throat, "Don't know what you are talking about. Now, where is this dojo?"

"Way to change the subject." Kaida chuckled.

"Shut up you." Ryu grunted, putting her into a headlock.

"Oi! Let go!" Kaida complained, twisting her way out and flipping Ryu onto the ground.

"Ow..." Ryu moaned.

"Serves you right." Kaida told him, sticking out her tongue.

"How did you do that?" Anju demanded.

Kaida frowned at her, puzzled. "What are you talking about? You thought me that move."

"You've been doing martial artist lessons? Why didn't you tell me, I wouldn't have tried to strangle you if I knew you could fight back." Ryu said, rising to his feet.

"No, not the move. How did you put your arm around her without her changing?" Anju hissed. Kaida looked taken aback and glanced at Ryu who was rubbing the back of his head.

"I guess it's not enough of an embrace." Kaida shrugged.

"No, trust me, I've seen people turned over less." Anju had her eyes narrowed at Ryu.

"Well when we were little it would make me change but as I got older I could take more physical contact. I suppose I built up an immunity to him or something."

"You built up an immunity to me. Thanks, that makes me feel so good about myself." Ryu grumbled.

"I...I didn't think that was possible." Anju frowned.

"I don't know, I'm just guessing. But then we'd have no way of knowing if that was true, would we? I'm the only one who has a friend from the outside. When I was younger I changed nearly every day until I began to withstand more contact." Kaida said.

"We had to bring extra clothes everywhere we went." Ryu chuckled.

Anju's brow was furrowed, "Interesting..." She mused. She glanced up at them, her gold eyes eager again,

"C'mon. Dojo time, Hisao-kun will be waiting for us."

"Who's Hisao?" Ryu asked as they began their journey to the dojo again. They had almost arrived and were now walking up the path to the entrance.

"He's the cat. He's our age, well, he's a year older." Kaida said.

"I see, is he nice?" Ryu enquired.

"Depends on who you ask. Personally I find him to be a vile and pathetic creature. But then I always was the best judge of character." A smooth and deep voice drawled from ahead.

"Honestly, Kira, do you live in this damn dojo?" Anju snarled at the rat who had just come out of the entrance, his bag slung casually over his shoulder as he leaned on the wall. His black eyes gleamed mischievously and they studied Ryu with obvious interest.

"Perhaps you shouldn't have drawn up your schedule to match mine, Anju. If you hadn't we wouldn't have to keep meeting like this." Kira smirked.

"Regardless, Anju, I have little interest nor time for you today. I am far for intrigued by our little dragon's pet here."

"Don't." Kaida warned.

"Now, now, little dragon. Don't be so cold. I just want to see what you've brought home. It looks like an adoring fan."

"Are you supposed to be intimidating? What are you anyway?" Ryu said, his head tilted to the side. He stood at the same height as Kira and clearly was unimpressed.

"If you knew anything about the pecking order hear you would know I am very intimidating. I am the rat, for your information."

Ryu raised an eyebrow. "A rat? Like, a rodent? In other words, something I could stomp to death."

Kira's eyes narrowed. "Careful you love sick puppy. You don't want to aggravate me."

"Why, do you have the plague? And what do you mean love sick puppy?" Ryu demanded, stepping a little closer to Kira.

"I think it is very clear what I mean." Kira hissed in his face, his gaze shifting to Kaida and back.

Ryu's jaw tightened but before he could say anything Anju interrupted,

"Don't you have something better to do?" Anju demanded. "Let's go inside." She said to Ryu and Kaida. They brushed past Kira and made to enter the dojo.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Kira sang.

They froze and Kaida's jaw tightened but she didn't turn to face him. "And why might it not be a good idea?"

"Well, it's a bit cruel isn't it? Making this little bug watch you play with the cat, you might break his pathetic mortal heart."

"How dare you?" Kaida growled, turning to face him. Kira's eyes lit up in amusement.

"Ignore him, Kaida, he doesn't know what he talking about." Ryu said, reaching out to pull Kaida back. She took a deep breath but turned to leave.

"Yes, you had better hurry up, little dragon, It'll be time for bed soon. Where does your pet sleep exactly, at the foot of your bed like the loyal dog he is? "

Kaida stopped. She didn't say anything for a moment before looking up at the sky and sighing.

"Nope. Not happening." She said brightly. She turned on her heel and faced Kira.

"Kaida, what are you-" Ryu began to ask.

Kaida walked straight up to Kira and slapped him, hard, across the face. The sound echoed in the hush that followed.

"Too far, rat, too far." Kaida hissed.

"That's it? That's the big hit you promised me? A slap?" Kyo shouted angrily at the ghost Kaida.

"Not quite." She chuckled.

Kira's hand shot out and wrapped around Kaida's neck. "Watch where you put your filthy hands, little dragon."

"Kaida!" Anju called in worry. She stepped forward but she needn't have moved.

Kaida snarled at Kira, her irises turned golden and her canines elongated. With a clawed hand she grasped his wrist and squeezed. He looked at her in surprise before yelping in pain as a crunching sound filled the air. He released her and took a step back so he was now against the wall but Kaida had not finished with him yet. She swung her arm and punched him full on the mouth, busting open his lip. His head knocked against the dojo wall and he fell to the ground in a daze. When he looked back up Kaida was glaring at him with glowing eyes.

"Touch me again and I will rip your bloody hand off." She snarled.

"C'mon, Hisao will be waiting." She snapped to the other two as she entered the dojo. Ryu and Anju just nodded, following the angry dragon in awed silence.


	23. Oh-So-Much Shouting

_**A/N: You know, I was under the impression that being on Summer Holidays meant I would have MORE free time to write, not LESS... No matter, I'll just have to perceiver for the sake of my lovely readers ^_^ Getting this up just before I head off on my holidays for four days tomorrow. I start work the day after I get back, so even less time to do fun things ^_^ Ah well, what can you do? Anyway, please enjoy and please Review ^_^**_

_**Review Replies:**_

_**Fantasyanimegirl283: She is a total badass ^_^ Hell yeah he was. You know, you always seem to asking exactly the right questions...too bad I'm too mean to answer them ^_^ Don't worry, all will be explained soon enough, thank you for being so understanding about my writing schedule ^_^ That's really sweet**_

_**Anonymusblader123 (And Kitsune): I'm going to be honest, I did miss you guys last chapter ^_^ I hope you are enjoying/enjoyed Jamaica, sounds like an awesome place to visit. Yeah, when I looked it up it said Kira was a boy's name but I have my doubts...ah well, in my mind he is kind of feminine featured. Kitsune! Cheer up! Put down the hair dye and the knife! Or at the very least send me the cut up jelly beans!**_

_**Guest: The Sakura trees? Whitedragon2645? I'm not too sure who you are but thanks for reviewing ^_^ He did, didn't he? Yeah, we shall see what Osamu shall do soon enough...As for Kira, well, he'll still be around for another while**_

_**ShadedStarlight0: Hehe, I think you may have gotten a little autocorrected but no matter I still understood you ^_^ Yeah, we shall see what happens to Kaida in the next chapter but as for Hisao, well you guessed right, more on that in this chapter ^_^ **_

_**Hmmm: Thank you, I hope I don't disappoint you and you still enjoy the storyline ^_^ Thank you for the compliment to my writing style, that means a lot and thanks for the faith in me as a writer. I promise to try to keep heartbreaks to a minimum but I'll make no promises... I'll see what I can do on the Kaida thing, I hadn't considered it before but now that you've said it I keep thinking about it, I think I'll be able to grant you your wish ^_^ **_

_**Guest: Hell yeah she did!**_

_**Irgoomer: Haha, burn indeed, I know I'm glad to have him back, he's one of my favourites characters to write. He'll be around for the next chapter definitely, possibly the one after as well, we shall see ^_^**_

_** .Laurent: Thank you and Welcome to Tale of Dragons! **_

_**PLEASE READ!**_

_**Wow, People sure were happy to see Kira get his ass kicked ^_^ By the way, I don't know if you saw but this story is on 90 reviews! 90 reviews! You guys are so freaking awesome I can't even describe how much I appreciate it! **_

_**I wonder if we can get to 100 after this chapter...Probably not, but a girl can dream. I want to do something special for the 100 review mark so leave a request on this chapter and I'll try to get as many of them done as I can ^_^ Anything at all you want me to write, doesn't even have to be Fruit Baskets related, I just want to spoil you guys ^_^**_

_**Anyway, sorry for the LONG A/N, Without further ado, here's chapter 23**_

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_**.**_

"So... is everyone here this violent or is this a onetime occurrence?" Ryu asked once they entered the dojo. Kaida shifted uncomfortably,

"Hey, give me a break, that guy is an asshole. He's been pissing me off since I got here."

"Well, I for one could not be prouder. That was badass, Kaida, no one has ever kicked Kira's ass like that before." Anju said, smirking widely.

"Wait, what did Kaida do?"

The trio looked up to see a tall, black and grey haired teenager looking at them. Hisao stood by a punching bag in the far corner, shirtless, his toned upper body slick with sweat. He had bandages wrapped around his knuckles and it seemed as though he had been working out only moments before.

"Ah, Hisao-kun, you just missed the show." Anju chuckled, walking over to the wall where the weapons were held. She plucked one of the fighting staffs off it and twirled it with a flick of her wrist.

"What show? What's going on? And who the hell is that?" Hisao asked the last part with a gesture to Ryu.

"Hisao, this is Ryu, my friend from back home." Kaida introduced.

" 'Allo shirtless man that is making me feel very insecure about my body image." Ryu said cheerily. Hisao looked at him in confusion.

"Oh be quiet Ryu-kun you're in great shape." Kaida complimented.

"Yeah but he's all toned and shiny, although the shininess could just be from the sweat..."

"Not that I'm not enjoying you telling me how pretty I am can we get back to the 'show' you were talking about?" Hisao interrupted.

Anju laughed from the side. She had been gracefully spinning and twirling with her staff but now she paused and pointed it accusingly towards Kaida.

"It's simple, Hisao-kun, Kaida here just knocked out and possibly maimed the rat."

Hisao's blue eyes widened and he looked up sharply at Kaida.

"Is that true?"

Kaida shrugged and scratched the back of her neck, "I wouldn't say I maimed him per se..."

Hisao's mouth hung open slightly and he ran a hand through his hair. He shook his head and looked away from her for a moment while biting his bottom lip.

"What the hell, Kaida?" He suddenly snapped.

Anju blinked in surprise, "Woah, down Kitty, I would have thought you of all people would be glad to hear that Kira got his."

"That's not it. How do you think Osamu's going to take it when he hears that Kaida has beaten up his golden boy?" Hisao snarled at her. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"She was provoked." Anju argued.

"Oh really? Did he touch her? Did he lay a hand on her, on any of you?"

Anju turned away, refusing to answer. Kaida growled,

"He went after Ryu, he started calling him a dog who should sleep on the end of my bed like a pet."

Hisao looked at her in dismay, "That's _all. _Damn it, do you people have _no_ sense of self control?"

"Like you're one to talk! You and Kira get into fights nearly every time you see each other!" Anju retorted, shouting now.

"That's different! I'm the cat! People already expect me to fail and be a disgrace! I'd get punished if I _behaved_ myself!" Hisao yelled back.

"So, what? The rest of us are supposed to lie down and take it where as you get to stand up for yourself?" Kaida snapped.

"When do I _ever_ get to stand up for myself?! I'm the damn cat you stupid, spoiled, brats! What, you think it's so hard because Kira says mean things to you? Boo _freaking_ hoo! I have to deal with that bullshit from everyone, everyday, but do you see me ripping off heads front, right and centre? No! 'Cause I know that it's better to ignore them! Ignore everyone! But you wouldn't know that because you are all so used to everyone worshipping you and telling you you're special that you don't know what it means to be a monster!" The anger and frustration in Hisao's voice was something that Kyo found himself relating to all too easily.

The two girls went silent for a moment. Hisao's chest rose and fell rapidly, his heavy breathing the only sound in the otherwise silent dojo.

"I don't think you're a monster." Kaida said quietly, looking a little ashamed of herself.

"You don't know anything." Hisao whispered.

"Neither do you." Kaida retorted in an equally quiet voice. The two just stared at each other for a while before Hisao looked away, emotion flashing in his eyes.

"Just...try not to get into trouble, you know, more than you already have." He muttered. He turned and began to pack up his things. No one spoke as he slung his bag over his shoulder and left.

Ryu gave off a low whistle once he was gone. "Well...that was awkward."

Kaida let out a short laugh and Anju rolled her eyes.

"He's not usually that moody, Hisao's just scared that Osamu's going to go all bitch fit on our asses." Anju explained.

"Right, and what are the chances of that happening?" Ryu asked. Anju shrugged,

"Hard to say, Osamu's not an easy one to judge. I think it depends on how much of a fuss Kira makes."

"I see, want me to go sweet talk him? Or strangle him before he wakes up?" Ryu offered. Kaida snorted,

"Thanks but both of those could go horribly wrong. Let's just avoid him, I may have hurt his pride more than anything else. He might not want to admit that he got beat up by the new girl." Kaida reasoned hopefully.

"Either way we won't find out today, come on, it's time to train. And no, beating up Kira did _not_ count as your warm up."

"Aww!" Kaida moaned.

.

"Now this should be interesting, I'm going to change scene. Try not to get too dizzy." The ghostly Kaida warned Kyo. She flicked her wrists and their surroundings suddenly blurred. Kyo felt a surge of disorientation as the world steadied itself again.

"Woah, can we not do that again?" He complained, rubbing his head.

"Close your eyes next time." Kaida suggested. Suddenly she frowned,

"Actually, considering we are in your head, can you close your eyes?"

Kyo's mouth opened but no sound came out as he considered that question.

"Eh, it doesn't matter. Oh look, here I come!" Kaida added brightly. Kyo saw they were standing outside the main house. It was the evening and Anju, Kaida and Ryu were coming up the path.

"Can't...go on...Ryu...carry me..." Kaida panted, her body doubled over in exhaustion.

"If I do that you'll turn. And crush me."

"Oh, come on...take one for the team..." Kaida groaned. Anju chuckled,

"Wuss."

"Slave driver..."

"You're only saying that because I made you run a _few_ warm down laps."

"Not...a few...over fifty...you...damn...tiger..." She gasped, her legs beginning to sway.

Kaida collapsed onto the grass face first. Ryu's eyes widened in concern and Anju blinked in surprise.

"Kaida...sleep now..." She mumbled causing the other two's concern to dispel. Anju rolled her eyes and prodded Kaida's side with her foot.

"Get up. We're nearly home."

"But grass is comfy...grass is friend..."

Anju buried her face in her palm. "Oh for the love of, that's it. Ryu, come here." Anju ordered, snapping her fingers.

"Grab her wrists, I'll get her feet."

"Yes Ma'm, ma'm." Ryu saluted, taking a grip of Kaida and tugging her from the ground. Anju grabbed her feet and they lifted her into the air, dangling her between them.

"Hey, is Kaida okay?" A male voice asked in concern. Kyo glanced behind him to see Shun frowning at the scene before him. Anju froze at the sight of him and dropped Kaida's feet. This caused Kaida's body to fall towards Ryu who, realising this, yelped and pushed her away from him so she wouldn't turn. Kaida collapsed to the ground roughly.

"Ow...Grass isn't my friend anymore..."

"She's fine. Why are you here?" Anju demanded.

"Chill tiggy, I was just passing by and you looked like you were having some trouble-"

"You weren't asked for. Leave us alone."

"Look, I just want to help, here, I'll carry her-"

"No! We don't need you, I don't need your help."

"What the _hell_ is your problem?" Shun snapped, "You've been acting like more of a bitch than usual these past two weeks!"

"Go to hell Shun!" Anju shouted back, her gold eyes flashing.

"I'm just going to drag Kaida back to your room..." Ryu muttered.

"Don't! I'll do it myself!" Anju growled. Cat ears protruded from her blonde hair. She hooked her arms under Kaida's shoulders and began to drag her towards their room. Kaida yawned and Kyo wondered if she had had a restless night the night before.

"Hey! I'm not finished with you!" Shun called after her.

"Yeah, well I'm done with you." Anju snarled back. But it seemed to Kyo that Shun wasn't going to let her walk off again. He stormed after her and put a hand roughly on her shoulder and forced her to face him and let go of Kaida. This seemed to rouse the red head as she stopped herself from collapsing on to the ground again.

"Let go of me." Anju hissed.

"Not until you tell me what I did." Shun retorted his grey eye boring into Anju's gold ones. Meanwhile, Ryu leaned in and grabbed Kaida's hand, pulling her away from the two quarrellers.

Anju's jaw tensed, she opened her mouth and then closed it before looking away.

"What? You never shut up but suddenly you can't think of anything to say?" Shun demanded. Anju swallowed and let out a deep breath.

"It's nothing, just...nothing." Anju said in a tense voice.

"Obviously it's not to you." Shun stated in a quieter but still rough voice.

"Alright, fine do you want to know what it is? You didn't tell me about _her_, Shun."

Shun faltered and Kyo thought he heard his breath hitch. "Her who?"He asked carefully.

Anju rolled her eyes, "Don't play dumb. Suki."

Shun swallowed and let go of her shoulder. He took a tiny step back and watched Anju with cautious eyes. "I...how long have you...?"

"Since just before my birthday, Kaida and I saw you two in the woods together."

Shun nodded, "Right. Listen, Anju, let me-"

"Relax, Shun, you don't need to explain yourself. I'm happy for you two. I'm just pissed you didn't tell me."

He looked shocked, "What?"

"Well, you know, I thought we were friends. I see you as a kind of...brother figure, you know? You could have told me you had a thing for the rabbit."

Shun was silent for a moment and gave her an unconvincing half smile. "A brother figure, right. Sorry, tiggy, I should have told you."

Anju shrugged, "Don't worry about it. It's out in the open, let's forget it, okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Shun agreed awkwardly.

Anju smiled a little, "Cool, now I got to go get a dragon into bed and entertain our lovely guest. I'll see you around, Shun."

"Sure thing, tiggy."

"Do you think you can walk?" Anju asked Kaida who was standing on her feet again.

Kaida frowned, her brown eyes gazing at Anju with concern and pity. "I'm fine, that power nap was just what I needed."

"Great. Let's get out of here."

Kaida nodded and her and Ryu moved to follow Anju into the house. Before entering Kaida glanced back at Shun. He was stony faced, his face turned towards the ground. He glanced up and caught Kaida's stare. He smirked at her with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. With a casual wave of his hand he turned to leave, his gait stiff and his shoulders tense.

"Is there always this much drama around here?" Ryu whispered to her. Kaida sighed,

"Yes, but it doesn't usually all flare up at once. You sure know how to pick when to visit."

Ryu ran a hand through his hair and grinned, "I do, don't I?"

.

"Let's fast forward a couple of hours. Believe it or not the most melodramatic part of Ryu's visit hasn't happened yet."

"Seriously? Does this guy just attract twists or something?"

Kaida considered the question with a head tilt. "Well...his best friend did have the ability to turn into a fire breeding mythological creature..."

"Yeah, stupid question." Kyo muttered. The world chose that moment to stop spinning and Kyo noticed they were in Kaida's and Anju's room. There was a make shift bed on the floor, causing Kyo to believe that Ryu was in fact sleeping at the end of Kaida's bed as Kira predicted. However, it was empty. The younger Kaida was sitting up in bed, her bleary eyes glancing wildly around the room.

"Ryu?" She whispered into space. There was no reply and she soon realised her oldest friend was not with her. She swung her legs out from under the covers and quickly grabbed her dressing gown. Once she was covered up she crept towards the bedroom door.

Kaida glanced cautiously towards Anju but the blonde girl slept soundly. With an affectionate smile on her lips she left.

"Ryu?" She repeated once she was in the corridor. Kyo saw a look of concentration cross her face as she listened keenly. Yet again, there was no reply.

Gracefully Kaida walked outside, her feet light on the ground. Her golden eyes told Kyo she was channelling some of her more unorthodox gifts, no doubt hoping to catch Ry's scent or the sound of his voice. In her search she left the main house and walked into the courtyard her and Mura spent many of their nights.

Suddenly Kaida jolted. Sinking into a crouch she moved towards whatever it was that set her off. After a moment Kyo spotted what it was, standing in a pair of boxers and a baggy t-shirt was Ryu, the light from the house illuminating his features. His arms were crossed over his chest and he had a carefree smile on his face although he wasn't looking at Kaida. There was another figure standing in front of him, their silhouette was all Kyo could see from this distance.

"So, did you come here to kill me?" Ryu asked.

Kaida took another step forward and Kyo saw the flash of irritation in Hisao's blue eyes.


End file.
